All My Imperfections
by Searchingformyheart
Summary: Kidnappings. Humor. Adventure. Romance. Parallel worlds. Powers. And...Rimahiko? Everybody thinks Mashiro Rima is perfect. She knows otherwise, but can never show it for fear that she will, once again, be unloved. When one event turns her whole world upside down, she discovers that perhaps, there's someone out there that loves her anyways, the way she is. Imperfect. ONGOING CONTEST
1. Prologue

_Prologue_

I'm beautiful. I'm petite. I'm classy. And I'm awfully imperfect. I'm Rima Mashiro. And I don't _deal_ with things. Other people are the ones who try to deal with me, and it never works.

I'm not terribly rude, or mean, or bitchy in general. I just don't let many people in. Amu's an exception, of course. She understands me.

But what I'm really afraid of is that if I let people in, they'll see my imperfections and realize that I'm not as great as I seem.

Because when I face the truth, I have a lot of imperfections. The reason why I walk really slowly and try to avoid physical activity? I'm terribly clumsy. I can trip over almost anything. The reason why I talk quietly? I'm prone to stuttering when nervous.

Point is, I try to hide my flaws and transform them into something that will be an object of envy. But really, in doing so, I hide myself away. I can't really tell who I am anymore, even.

But that purple-headed girly boy, that stupid Nagihiko, has seen my flaws. Has seen through my façade. And he can't exactly _unsee_ them, can he? So why does he even still talk to me? When he knows all of these imperfections… no. He doesn't even know half of them, and when he finally figures out how flawed I am, he will stop talking to me.

The reason why I'm so mean to the purple-head? Because maybe, just maybe…

Never mind.

* * *

**Ah, really short prologue. The next chapter will arrive in approximately fifteen minutes :P**

**But this story is written from Rima's perspective, and I know I left a really teaserish ending to the prologue just then. Oh well... Since you'll have the next chapter soon. This is my first fanfiction, so please read and review! **


	2. Flaw 1: Never Pick Dare

Chapter 1~ Flaw #1: Never Pick Dare

"Good morning, Amu-chan!" Tadase rushed over to us, puppy-dog eyes in full use. I rolled my eyes. I'm really not sure how Amu doesn't see that he's completely in love with her and whatnot. (Because, see, if you notice, he didn't say hi to the rest of us. Just Amu.)

"Ehh, Tadase-kun! Not fair! Yaya wants a greeting too!" Yaya wailed. See, I'm not the only one who noticed!

"Good morning, Yaya, Amu-chan, and Tadase-kun." Ugh. It's that voice. That velvety, smooth, beautiful voice… wait, what? Just kidding. Because that's the voice of Nagihiko Fujisaki, idol of our school and my insufferable archenemy.

I mean, really. It's been four years, and we're all sixteen now. We don't even go to Seiyo anymore, and yet Mr. Purple-Head is still pretty much the most popular guy at our school.

Well, I'm one of the more popular people too, but you know what I mean. But I guess some things never change; Yaya still talks like she's in first grade, Kukai still loves sports, but he's a grade ahead of us. His little blonde girlfriend is still snobby, and still a famous singer. Tadase is still drooling over Amu, and she's still pining away after Ikuto.

And me? I'm still…

Wait for it…

Short.

Wonderful, right? And of course _he_ never lets me forget it.

"Oh, and Rima-chan too. I almost didn't notice you because you're so-"

"Mashiro-san." I corrected automatically. "You're not allowed to call me Rima." Also, this kind of served the purpose of cutting him off before he could call me short. Nagihiko let out a small pout, those gloriously melting chocolate eyes of his sulking. Yeah, well, they might work on everyone else, but I'm not everyone else.

"And I don't need a greeting from you. In fact, don't talk to me." I snubbed. Amu rolled her eyes.

"Here we go again…" She muttered in a singsong voice under her breath. Except I could still hear her, so she might as well have just said it louder.

"Oh, really?" Nagihiko replied casually. "I'm sorry,_ Rima-chan._ But we're kind of lab partners, and we have three other classes together. I'm afraid you'll have to bear with me."

"Shut up, shut up," I chanted, as if it could make him go away. If only.

Yaya started giggling, though, so it ruined the effect. Amu laughed and clapped her hands.

"Okay, guys. I just want to remind you again that the party at my house is tonight, okay? Rima and Yaya, get there at around four so we can get ready together. The guys can come at around six. Tell that to Kukai and Utau, okay? And-" Her expression hardened, "-Ikuto, if you see him."

I nodded eagerly. Amu and I had gotten even closer over the years, but I still got excited every time I went to her house. Even if I hated makeup. And hair products. And eyelash curlers. Because those things are just freaking _scary._

The school bell rang and we all dispersed to our lockers, with me lazily trailing instead of running like them.

* * *

"Hey, guys, right on time!" Amu clapped her hands happily and Yaya and I stood at her front door, sleeping bags in hand and smiles on our faces.

Ami poked her head out from behind Amu.

"Hi, Rima, Yaya. Are you here for Nee-chan's party?" She asked sweetly, brown curls bouncing along her pretty face. She had grown older (obviously, I suppose) and while she didn't really look like Amu, they both had the same golden eyes and were beautiful.

"Yup!" Yaya affirmed, bounding into Amu's house. I followed, although in a more refined manner. I gently set my bag down before allowing myself a small smile at the decorations.

Amu had put up pink, green, blue, and yellow streamers everywhere, the colors of her charas. Said guardian characters were currently transporting cookies from the oven to the plates, with Su panicking every time Ran carelessly tossed a cookie into the air, and Dia trying to keep the peace. Miki was sketching a cake, using the very real dessert in front of her as inspiration. It was rather well made, so Amu had probably character changed with Su.

"Time to dress up!" Amu cried, before grabbing my hand and dashing upstairs, Yaya following.

The next two hours (how did we even manage to waste that much time?) were filled with sequins, flowy fabrics, mascara, blush, and some other products that I don't even know the names of.

"Ta-da!" Amu uncovered my eyes as I stood in front of a mirror, and for a second I just stared, uncomprehending. Was that really me?

No, just kidding. It wasn't like in those books where the people can't even recognize themselves because they're so pretty now. I was clearly still me, but there was something about the way Amu had pinned up my curls and forced me into a flowy, striking deep purple dress, and gave my lips a smooth pink tint that made me look… different.

It didn't seem to be like something I would wear, or something I would do to my hair. And I looked so elegant, but at the same time casual and pretty, that I wasn't really sure what to think.

"Awwwww!" Yaya squealed. I was still kind of in awe at the way Amu had transformed my _aura_, and so I didn't even bother replying.

The doorbell rang, and Amu jumped up. Dressed in a black mini-dress, she raced down the stairs, one mesh glove on and the other lying on her drawer.

Yaya got up as well, wearing a red ruffled top and a black sparkly pencil skirt. She bounded down two steps at a time, joining Amu at the door.

I looked at myself one more time, wondering what Nagihiko would think. Not that I cared, of course. Just curious.

"The party don't start 'till we walk through the door!" Kukai hollered, a cocky grin on his face. Utau smacked him, but she was smiling too.

The guys all look great. Kukai was wearing a semi-formal white button up shirt that Utau had probably made him wear, and a green plaid tie knotted messily. Tadase looked somewhat older in a V-neck tee, dark wash jeans complimenting the sky blue fabric.

And Nagihiko… well, he was dressed in a plaid button up that I have to admit, he looked good in. Watching him walk through the door with an easy smile on his face, I could start to see why all the girls liked him. It was the way he gave off that happy feeling, that content sense of peace that people felt around him.

Not very fair, don't you think?

"What, a party and _I'm_ not invited?" A lazy voice drawled from the window. Amu whipped around immediately, staring at the blue-haired neko perched on her windowsill.

"Goddammit, Ikuto, why can't you just come through the front door like a normal person?" Utau grumbled at her brother, annoyed.

"I'm not a normal person, that's why." Ikuto nodded in satisfaction, as if he knew things that we didn't.

"I-Ikuto!" Amu squeaked. She sounded a little like a dying mouse. I rolled my eyes and motioned for the guys to move to the living room, so that Amu and Ikuto could sort out their greeting alone.

"You look nice, Rima-chan." Nagihiko's voice was slightly appreciative, and he was still smiling.

"You too." I replied, before really noticing what I was saying. His grin grew into a smirk, as Kukai gaped.

"I mean, just not as ugly as usual. That's all!" I backpedaled, blushing. Nagihiko shrugged.

"Whatever you say, Rima-chan. Want to play Truth or Dare?" He asked the entire group casually, as Amu walked in, face tomato red. Ikuto followed behind her, smirking with his hands in his pockets.

"Yaya wants to play!" Yaya cheered, kicking her legs as she sat on the sofa. I shrugged, and Kukai and Utau both nodded. Amu was still blushing, so Ikuto put his hand on her head and moved it up and down so that she was nodding. Tadase looked miffed.

"Alright, then. Amu-chan, truth or dare?" We all looked towards Amu as she tried to regain her cool.

"Dare, duh." She responded, her cool and spicy front coming on. Nagihiko smiled gently. It would probably be a wimpy dare; since Nagihiko would never make Amu do anything that made her feel uncomfortable.

"Feed Ikuto a cookie, then." He proclaimed. I stifled a laugh at the dare. Everyone watched with pointed interest as she held a cookie in one hand, trembling slightly. Ikuto smirked, mouth open and tongue sticking out.

The rest of it was kind of anticlimactic, though. Amu basically just stuffed the cookie in his mouth and turned away, blushing.

"U-Utau, truth or dare?" She stuttered, seeming relieved to move on. Utau grinned.

"Truth. I can't have you guys dare me to do something awful and ruin my celebrity reputation, right?" Amu considered this for a moment.

"What's so great about Kukai, then? Why do you like him?" The way she said it wasn't mean, only curious. Utau started blushing too, but answered.

"That's easy. 'Cause he's fun to be around and he cares about me. Also, he can eat a lot of ramen." She smiled shyly at Kukai, who grinned widely back.

"So, Rima, truth or dare?" Utau directed the question at me and I frowned slightly.

"Uh… truth." I replied. It wasn't like I had anything to hide.

"No fair! Rima-tan _always_ picks truth! She never picks dare!" Yaya whined. I caught the evil look Nagihiko gave Utau, and desperately wished that Yaya would shut up.

"She should pick dare for once, then." Tadase suggested gently, and Yaya joined in enthusiastically.

"Pick dare! Pick dare!" She chimed. I gave her my best glare, hinting that I really didn't want to pick dare.

"Okay, truth then. Why won't you pick dare? Is it 'cause you're a coward?" Utau taunted. I glared at her, too, and Nagihiko for good measure.

"Fine, dare!" I shouted, letting my pride get the better of me. I really need to stop doing that, because the way Nagihiko's grinning cannot be good.

He whispered something in Utau's ear (another bad sign) and she starts up with the evil smile too.

"Alright. I dare you to…" she paused dramatically for effect, but I think she should really just get it over with.

"…kiss Fujisaki-kun!"

Uh, yeah, no way.

But from the surprised look on Nagihiko's face, he hadn't expected that either. He shot Utau a somewhat panicked glance. Seems like I'm not the only one who isn't fond of the idea.

"Maybe you didn't get the memo, but that guy's my rival. I would never kiss somebody who tries to steal Amu away from me!" I cried.

"I'm not stealing-" Nagihiko started, exasperated, but I put my hands over my ears childishly. He rolled his eyes and Utau shrugged.

"Fine, I get it. Then I dare you to get up and sing while dancing for us. Amu, the music?"

Amu jumped up and ran over to the stereo system, running her hands over the laptop mouse and choosing a song, while I stared in horror. Dance? Sing? Please add those to the list of things I can't do.

But Nagihiko (curse him!) shoved me into the center of our little circle as a popular song started to play, so I had no choice but to sing along and awkwardly sway and wave my arms.

Great. Don't I sound like a lovely five-year-old.

And I dance more like a monkey.

But, I don't know. It wasn't _all_ bad. Since I already knew I was a bad dancer and singer, I could make it as silly as I wanted. And maybe it was a bit fun to have everyone else singing along too, rocking from side to side and clapping.

Still, though. I know what I want for myself, so they shouldn't have tried to manipulate me like that.

Finally, the excruciating five minutes were over, and I couldn't help but glance at Nagihiko. Just to see if he thought I was weird, or awkward. He was smiling at me, though, clapping.

Something kind of shot through me. I don't know what it was. Like relief, or that feeling you get when you stay underwater for a really long time the come back up for air.

"You know, Rima-chan, sometimes you're a little too stubborn for your own good. But if you just let go, its kind of fun, right?" He said, giving me a small, genuine smile. I rolled my eyes.

"No. It wasn't fun at all."

Nagihiko's smile disappeared, and he sighed, looking away.

He didn't smile at me like that for the rest of the night.

* * *

**Okay okay, that was a lot longer than fifteen minutes. I'm an exaggerator, yeah? But I hope you guys like the chapter. There will probably be lots of random and funny stuff happening in the next chapter, and some Rima and Nagi dissention. Stay tuned!**

**Since it's winter break, I'll finally be able to work on this stuff. -.- Ciao~**


	3. Flaw 2: What an Actress

Chapter 2~ Flaw #2~ What an Actress

"Oh my God! He's dying!" Amu screamed, eyes wide. Nagihiko gasped, reaching for the supplies.

"Hurry up and help him!" Amu cried desperately. Nagihiko gritted his teeth, urgently going through procedures. Kukai and I watched as Tadase reached over to help Nagihiko, holding some of the supplies for him. Ikuto was watching too, but the person in his sights was a certain rosette.

"Time's up!" Utau announced. Everyone groaned. Utau read off the card. "If a minute has passed and you have not completed all the procedures, everyone must move back five squares."

"Aw, come on!" Kukai complained, moving his piece on the board back five places. Everyone else did the same. Utau sighed, playing with the end of one of her humongous blond pigtails. Like, seriously, how does she keep her hair like that and not have her head totally off balance?

"I'm hungry." Amu groaned, glancing hopefully at Su. She sniffed, but floated away to the kitchen.

"Then I'll go too. Maybe we could make some cream puffs for breakfast." Nagihiko jumped up, following the little chara to the kitchen. Ikuto sniffed the air, slinking after them.

Shortly after, we heard a chara scream and a pot clattering to the floor.

"Ikutooooooo, stop it!" Su's little voice cried.

"Wait, Ran, don't touch that!"

"Oops! Sorry, Nagi!"

"Hey, you made me mess up my drawing!"

"Ano, Ikuto-san, that's not chocolate…"

"Hm? That's disgusting. Amu, what the heck does your family eat?" Ikuto's voice floated from the kitchen. It was followed by a few other unnatural noises.

Everybody stared towards the kitchen before turning back like nothing happened. Better let it be.

"The party last night was fun, though." Tadase said in that gentle, soft-voice way of his. He was smiling appreciatively at Amu, which kind of made me want to throw up. Don't get me wrong, I want Amu to be happy, but honestly Tadase just seems more like a childhood friend. They're just… I don't know. It would be like Kirishima-kun and me. Awkward.

"Yeah, it was awesome!" Kukai agreed. I shrugged, not wanting to mention how I had felt slightly off the entire time. All of us had slept over (with Amu's dad crying in the living room about how there were_ boys_) and I had gone to sleep right away instead of joining everyone else in sharing secrets.

"I'll go see if they need help." I said emotionlessly, getting up and shuffling to the kitchen. Kusukusu popped out of her egg, yawning.

"Wait, Rima-tan! I want breakfast too, kusu!" She followed me, hovering about my head as we walked towards the dining area too.

"Hello, Rima-chan." Nagihiko greeted me as I came in. The kitchen had melted butter running off the surface of the counter top, and there were random marshmallows scattered everywhere. Ikuto was nowhere to be seen. Su, Ran, and Dia were cleaning it up, while Rhythm was flirting with Miki. Nagihiko was whipping cream in a bowl, slender arms working fast. I watched his smooth movements enviously, remembering the time we had made cream puffs together. That was back in sixth grade, when I was totally and utterly convinced that he was a terrible person and wanted to steal Amu away from me.

But things had changed a little since then. Physically, I looked almost exactly the same. My face just wasn't as round, and I had grown a tiny bit taller. I was still flat chested and short, though, and my hair was still wavy and down to my legs.

Nagihiko had grown taller too, and his hair was still long. He had grown handsomer (really? Like does he really need to?) And had even _more_ fan girls now.

Our relationship was also pretty much the same. I insulted him, he retorted comebacks, and we could get along if we wanted to, but most of the time we didn't.

The reason I had said things had changed was because of my personal feelings about him. He was still infuriating, but sometimes I felt milder about him and he could actually make me smile sometimes. And it kind of scared me, how my feelings were just spinning out of control.

So I locked him out.

I'm Rima Mashiro, the ice queen. I've had to deal with parents that yelled at each other and screamed and fought since I was eight. I don't understand why they didn't just get divorced already. But they haven't, and I'm so scared that the same thing will happen to me.

"Rima-chan? Are you okay? You seem to be spacing." Nagihiko's voice brought me out of my thoughts. I looked up, startled.

"I'm fine. How are the cream puffs?" Great. Now I was being uncharacteristically nice. But for some reason, I didn't feel like backtracking and making a snarky comment.

He smiled. "I'm almost done with the second batch. Want to try one?" He handed me a small, golden-brown cream puff, and I gratefully accepted it. It was still hot, so I blew on it a bit before biting in. It was crispy and sweet, the cream inside fluffy and smooth, tasting of vanilla.

"How are they?" Nagihiko asked, studying my reaction carefully. I closed my eyes and turned away, chewing.

"They're okay." My response was quiet, my voice clear and monotone. It was the exact answer I had given him five years ago, when we had made cream puffs at Amu's house. Nagihiko sweat dropped.

"Why are you always so difficult? You never agree with anything I say." Nagihiko asked curiously, although I thought I could detect some bitterness in his voice.

I stiffened. "I'm not." I disagreed immediately, before realizing that I was just proving his point.

"Yes, you are. You just did." He sounded miffed.

"Maybe you're the one who's always disagreeing with me. Not everything's my fault, you know." I retorted.

"I didn't say it was." Nagihiko replied, frustrated. "It's just that I don't really know why you hate me."

"I told you. Because you're always trying to steal Amu away from me." I didn't feel like eating anymore.

"Really, Mashiro-san? Because I think that's just a cover-up. An act. There must be a real reason you hate me, a more logical reason." I flinched when he called me Mashiro-san. He never calls me that, if only to piss me off.

"I don't act. It's the truth."

Nagihiko let out a humorless laugh. "Yeah, right. Remember all those fake tears? You do act, Mashiro-san. You hide your real feelings under that icy exterior of yours. And I can see through it, so why don't you just let it drop already?"

I started trembling a little. Whether from anger, or fear, I wasn't sure. I could feel the corners of my eyes starting to feel wet. Why was he being so mean, so harsh?

And why did it hurt so much?

I turned towards the kitchen door, pulling it open. Everyone tumbled in, lying in a heap. Amu was on top, and she looked up, giving me a sheepish grin.

"You were listening?" I asked, some withheld emotion coming through in my shaky voice. Amu's smile disappeared.

"Rima, are you okay?" She asked, looking alarmed. I realized that tears were pricking my eyes, threatening to fall onto my cheeks.

"Oh, she's fine. Those are fake tears, after all."

And that voice made me push past everybody and race towards the front door. "Kusukusu, we're leaving." I stumbled over our board game, not even caring about the stuff I had in Amu's room.

I ran out the door, slamming it as I went. I could hear Amu calling after me, but I didn't look back.

The tears came in earnest now, flowing down my face. I hadn't really cried in a long time, and I wasn't sure why I did now.

I had always known that Nagihiko could see right through me, but it was a different matter for him to say it, to acknowledge the fact that I hid myself away. But even if he could see through me, he couldn't see me. He couldn't see who I was underneath my façade.

Because I didn't know, either.

And the tears dropped onto the black pavement below.

* * *

**Wow, you guys proud of me? I never update this fast. Probably because it's winter break, though. Anyways, this chapter was kind of dramatic at the end. Rima doesn't like it when people point out that she acts :O**

**R&R, and thanks for reading!**

**Ciao!**

**~Chelle**


	4. Flaw 3: I Need Tutoring

Chapter 3~ Flaw #3~ I Need Tutoring and I'm Colorblind

Monday was awkward. Just plain awkward, because I sat next to Nagihiko in two of my classes, and he was in two others. I wanted to say something, and I wanted him to say something, but I didn't, and he didn't.

Until I received my test paper, that is.

"A thirty percent? Rima-chan, is that even possible?" Nagihiko asked, glancing at my test paper. I quickly shoved it into my folder, cheeks burning with embarrassment, especially since Nagihiko had probably gotten a full score.

He laughed. "Too late, I already saw it. Do you even study, Rima-chan?" Oh, so now he's back to calling me Rima again? I thought about correcting him, but I didn't want to hear the bitter way he said "Mashiro-san" again, so I refrained.

"I just didn't have time for this test." I defended. He raised an eyebrow.

"Really? And the last test, and the one before that, and the one before that?" He asked, grinning slyly.

My jaw dropped open. "You saw all of those?"

He stuck out his tongue. "You're not exactly subtle when you're ogling at your terrible marks. And since you're short, it's easy for me to look over your shoulder."

"I'm not short!" I shouted, before realizing that everyone in our class was staring at me.

"I hate to break it to you, Mashiro-san, but you kind of are. Don't worry though, there's nothing wrong with being short!" Nikaidou-sensei patted my head as he finished passing out test papers, returning back to the front of the room. Remind me again, exactly _why_ did he have to decide to be our tenth grade teacher?

I opened my mouth to protest, but Nagihiko was already cracking up next to me. Fuming, I huffed and sat in my chair in silence, until independent study time.

"Mashiro Rima-san, I need to see you!" Nikaidou-sensei called cheerfully. Sighing, I slid off my chair and padded over to him. "Yes, sensei?"

"Well," he lowered his voice, as if sharing something confidential. "I noticed that your test scores recently haven't been too… good." He blinked rapidly. "And so I thought, well, why not assign you a tutor? I would be willing to consider this extra credit for you to bring your grade up. And so I decided your tutor would be…" He glanced down at his paper.

_Not Nagihiko. Please, not Nagihiko. ANYONE but Fujisaki. Literally, anyone. You can assign me to that disgusting boy who sits behind us and picks his nose. Or that really creepy girl who has a habit of staring at people._

_ Just not Nagihiko!_ I prayed.

"Nagihiko Fujisaki!" Nikaidou-sensei finished triumphantly.

Damn, the universe really hates me.

"Why?" I cried quietly. He looked confused.

"Because he's your lab partner, and he gets perfect marks, and since you two were guardians together, I thought you'd feel comfortable around him, and-"

"Okay, okay, I get it." I interrupted, since he was babbling. Nikaidou-sensei laughed.

"Alright, then. I'll talk to him about it. With this, your grades are sure to go up!" Stop being cheerful. Why is he so happy? Stop smiling. Seriously.

Sometimes, I wonder if everyone is just out to get me.

* * *

"Rima-chan!" I heard a voice calling behind me. I turned around, beaming.

"Amu!" I greeted her as she slowed to a walk beside me. She smiled back at me.

"Hey, you ready for the guardian meeting?" She asked, indicating the greenhouse. We weren't guardians anymore, but we helped the younger ones since we still had our charas. Luckily. I couldn't imagine how miserable life would be at home without Kusukusu. Probably even more miserable than it was right now.

We headed to the elementary portion of the campus. When we got to the usual guardian meeting place, all the littluns weren't there, but our group was.

"Where are all the little kiddies?" I asked, placing my bag on a chair and sitting down in another. Kukai shrugged.

"Don't know. They weren't here today, I guess, so we'll have to take care of duties."

We were about five minutes into our meeting when I finally noticed Nagihiko's cocky grin. He was practically bursting with smugness; smiling so hard his face would've split in two if it could've.

"Hey, did you hear?" He leaned forward, closer to the table. "I'm gonna be Rima-chan's tutor."

He did not. He did not seriously just tell everybody that, not only did I need a tutor, but that he was my tutor as well?

I'm gonna kill that longhaired brat!

"Nagihiko Fujisaki, _run._" A murderous glare emitted from my eyes as Nagihiko chuckled nervously, before bolting out of his chair.

Yaya got out a bowl of popcorn.

* * *

"Why do I have to go to your house?" I whined as we stood in front of Nagihiko's freaking huge mansion. Rich people.

He rolled his eyes. "You're the one who didn't want us to go to your house."

Of course I didn't. Because there, my parents were yelling and arguing and Nagihiko would probably be scared away. Which I didn't want, for some insane reason that I couldn't fathom. (Haha, Nagihiko, in your face! I can use big words too!)

"I know, but can't you just tell Nikaidou-sensei that you did tutor me, and let me go home?" I asked. He shook his head.

"You need the practice, Rima-chan." He chastised before pushing the door open.

I trailed after him as we went through his humongous garden and entered his house. Wooden planks creaked under our feet, causing me to shiver. I stopped in the front hall, next to the portrait of a girl who looked almost exactly like Nagihiko. She was really pretty, but she looked younger than Nagihiko. I stopped walking.

"Who's that?" I asked curiously, indicating the portrait. Nagihiko gave a little laugh that seemed tainted with-nervousness? I'm not sure.

"That's Nadeshiko, my twin sister. That picture was taken two years ago, though, so she's older now. She's studying dance in Europe." Nagihiko explained.

"Oh yeah, Nadeshiko. Amu's first best friend, right?" I asked cheerfully. Nagihiko sensed my warm and friendly (read: deadly and hostile) aura and shrank back a little bit.

"U-um, yeah. She probably won't be coming back for a long time, though." He said, before turning back towards the hallway and continuing until we reached his room.

I set my bag down on the floor before taking out my textbook and sitting under his kotatsu. I had already gotten my parents' permission, so there was no need to call home. Nagihiko took a seat next to me and opened up my textbook, and took out our worksheets that we had to do for homework.

He started explaining the first question, and I sighed.

It was going to be a long afternoon.

* * *

"Finally! We're done!" I cried jubilantly, sucking on the Popsicle that Nagihiko had given me. It was peach flavored, my favorite.

"Good job, Rima-chan." Nagihiko praised me, sucking on his blueberry flavored Popsicle.

I let out a small huff, but I was kind of glad that he had tutored me. I understood our lesson much better now, and I had actually finished my homework.

"Whatever, purple-head." I snuggled under his kotatsu; glad for the warmth of the blanket since it was winter. (I guess it's kind of ironic that we're eating Popsicles, but hey, they taste good.)

"Actually, my hair is indigo." He corrected, also lying down on the ground. I turned around and glared at him.

"What? Your hair's purple, not indigo." He rolled his eyes and pointed to his purple blanket, which, I had to admit, was more purple-ly than his hair.

"That's purple, Rima-chan. My hair is indigo." He laid back down, obviously satisfied with his argument.

"Nonsense!" I cried. "That's like saying Kusukusu's hair is orange!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Rima-chan, are you colorblind or something? Her hair _is_ orange."

I gaped at him. "No, it's not! She's blonde!"

He cracked up. "Rima, Kusukusu is _not_ blonde! You're seriously colorblind!"

I puffed out my cheeks. "This is why I dislike you, Fujisaki! And don't call me Rima without an honorific!"

His laughter subsided. "Aw, why does Rima not like me?" He asked in a teasing tone. "Nah, we all know you love me."

I flushed. "No! That's gross! Who would like you?"

He gave me an "are you serious" look. "Um, maybe the groups of like fifty girls at our school that follow me around?"

I pointed accusingly. "You have a terribly big ego."

He grinned. "Oh yes, Rima-chan, and you. You like me too, right?"

I stuck out my tongue childishly. "No!"

"Oh, really? Let's test that, shall we?" He asked, suddenly becoming seriously. I gulped. What did he mean by that?

He leaned closer, chocolate eyes blazing. And closer. And ohmygodhe'sright_there_inmyfaceandwhycan'tImove. He was so close I could see the flecks of gold in his glorious brown eyes-god, the word brown doesn't even do them justice, and is he going to-to…

He backed away, laughing. "You should see your face right now."

My face felt hot, and my hand shook as I pointed at him. "Y-you!"

"Me." He nodded, pointing to himself and grinning wickedly.

Sputtering and huffing, I gathered my stuff and stood up with as much dignity as I could muster. Stomping out his room, I stuttered.

"I-I don't like you, and I never will!" I threw my sentence over my shoulder.

"You'll fall for me, Rima! You'll be head over heels before you even know it." He called after me, shaking in a fit of laughter.

"Like hell I would!" I retorted, running down the corridor. I'm not even sure if he heard me, but I hoped so.

Stupid indigo-head.

* * *

**Heh.**

**Well that was fun. The entire chapter name wouldn't fit on the little dropdown menu thing, in case you're wondering. I'll probably have two more chapters up by the end of today! (Hopefully, but I'm a terrible exaggerator.) Merry Christmas, everybody!**

**~Chelle**


	5. Flaw 4: In Denial

**I just realized that I forgot to do the disclaimer for the rest of the chapters. Anyways, I don't own Shugo Chara. If I did, Rima and Nagi would totally already be together.**

**That being said, I think they like each other anyways.**

* * *

Chapter 4~ Flaw #4~ In Denial

Okay. What exactly did the purple-head (sorry, indigo-head) mean by "You'll fall for me"?

And why do I care?

The entire way home, my thoughts were jumbled and filled with that stupid Nagihiko. His words kept repeating themselves, echoing in my frazzled brain.

_You'llfallformedoyoulikemeRimaoh reallylet'stestthatyou'llenduplikingmebeforeyoueven knowit-_

Okay. Stop. Something is clearly wrong here.

_ Stop thinking about it, stop thinking about it, stop thinking about it!_ I chanted inside my head, desperately wishing that the small suspicion in the back of my mind wasn't true.

Nah, it wasn't true. Couldn't be.

I opened the door as I reached my house. For once, my parents were quiet. Mama was probably sleeping, since Papa was on the couch, watching T. V.

"I'm home, Papa." I spoke quietly as I took off my shoes. He looked over at me.

"Oh, Rima, good. How was tutoring?" He asked, not really sounding like he cared. I shrugged.

"Okay." He just nodded at my response before turning back to his show.

I went upstairs and entered my room, glancing towards my computer with the slightest bit of curiosity.

No. Don't do it, Rima, don't do it.

My hands traitorously moved towards the laptop, flipping it open and turning it on. Against my will (totally! I swear!) I went to my favorite search engine and typed in, 'How to tell if you have a crush. '

Crap. I did it.

I heard Kusukusu giggling behind me as results came up.

"Rimaaaaa, do you like somebody?" She teased, her apparently ORANGE hair tickling my cheek as she settled on my shoulder. I pouted.

"No!" I just wanted to see what was so great about love!" I protested, clicking on the first result.

10 Signs That You Have a Crush

1) You're always thinking about them. (Well. Not always.)

2) You blush a lot around them. (Against my will.)

3) You find them physically attractive. (He does have the prettiest melting chocolate eyes... Wait, wtf?!)

4) You tease or insult them constantly, but never too seriously. (Hey, he deserves it! Besides, I can't change habits that started four years ago!)

5) You get jealous when they talk to members of the opposite gender. (I only get jealous when he talks to Amu, because he's trying to steal her! And that red headed bitch, Saaya, because I don't see what he sees in her, but-Rima! Shut up!)

6) A lot of things remind you of them. (Yeah. A lot of things purple.)

7) You care about what they think. (That time at Amu's party was a fluke.)

8) You're in denial. (Wtf, can this thing hear what I'm thinking? I'm not in denial.)

9) You like attention from them. (Only because then it won't seem weird that I'm criticizing everything he does.)

10) The entire time you were reading this, you were thinking of them. (Duh! I came here to find out if I liked him, so of course I would be thinking of him…)

Oh God. Rima, you are in sooooo much trouble.

Staring at the laptop in horror, I quickly exited out of the window. I could feel Kusukusu's curious gaze boring a hole in head.

"Nuh-uh. No. Never." I fell backwards onto my bed, hugging a pillow and rolling around. Staring glumly out the window, I sighed. Tomorrow was Christmas, and it wasn't snowing.

I had already gotten Amu and Yaya presents three months ago. (Don't judge. I saw the perfect things, so why not? I hate crowds at Christmas time.)

I had gotten the guys things a few days ago, but I hadn't gotten anything special for Nagihiko. Should I have? Should I go buy him something to apologize for the party? Or to thank him for tutoring me?

Decisively, I got up and grabbed my coat and wallet, heading out the door.

* * *

Defeated, I plunged into my blankets.

"I couldn't find anything…" I murmured, staring sadly at the peach blossom plant on my window. I didn't even know why, but I felt an overwhelming desire to get Nagihiko something really good.

Looking at the peach blossoms, I suddenly got an idea…

But why did I care so much? I had already gotten him a present; it just wasn't special. Turning around and laying on my back, I stared at my ceiling before flipping my laptop open again.

I went to my favorite social network (not that I went on it often anyways) and logged in. In my news feed, I saw a picture Nagihiko had taken of all of us. When I clicked on it, I saw that it was part of an album. I clicked on the album, scrolling through the pictures. Most of them were of the guardians (those sniped pictures of Amu were hilarious) and of himself with his family and occasionally some of his other guy friends.

I stopped at the last picture, one that was titled "Rima-chan". In it, you could tell it was a self-taken picture. Nagihiko held the camera in one hand and my neck in the other arm, winking.

I remembered that he had forcibly made me take that picture, grabbing me and saying, "Take a picture with me, Rima-chan!" I was blinking, looking confused as to why Nagihiko's arm was practically choking my neck.

Looking at the picture, I got a somewhat warm feeling inside. Don't ask me why. But maybe it was the familiar way he held me, not bothered by my coldness or height at all.

This was much too confusing for me. I got out my diary (I know, right? The great Rima Mashiro has a _diary?_ Believe it.) I started writing with my eyes closed, wondering what my hand would involuntarily come up with.

_I like you, Nagi._

WHOA. What was that? Since when did I call him Nagi? And I liked him? No way!

Breathing hard, I heard Kusukusu whisper, "You know it's true…"

I had a crush on Nagihiko Fujisaki.

Ew.

* * *

**Wow! Rima's finally realized that she likes Nagihiko! Don't worry though, this is where it gets interesting! xD This chapter and the next are both pretty short, but you'll see why I split them up. And I made her realize early in the story that she likes him because I don't like those stories that are like all them arguing, and then suddenly she's like OH I LOVE YOU and Nagi's like I'VE ALWAYS LOVED YOU -makes out- end.**

**NO.**

**So yeah. Ciao~**

**P.S. I'll have the next chapter up by the end of today!**


	6. Flaw 5: Christmas Special

Chapter 6~ Christmas Special!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shugo Chara!**

**Nagihiko's POV**

She was an angel. She was beautiful, her blond wavy hair shiny and long, cascading over her shoulders in waves. Her huge, brown eyes shone and blazed, all the clear colors blending into each other. Her slim, petite frame was just so _cute, _so much heart and life packed into a tiny body. All great things come in small packages, right?

She managed to make a winter coat and scarf dazzling. She was so pretty, black velvet hairband contrasting beautifully in her corn silk hair. She looked like…

…an extremely cute pug with her face smooshed in a window.

"Rima-chan, what are you doing?"

Said ice queen hastily pulled away from the window when she heard my voice, flushing slightly. "N-nothing, you stupid purple-head."

"Indigo!" I corrected in a singsong voice. "Want to tell me why you were practically making out with a window?"

She huffed. (Which was extremely adorable.) "It's nothing. I was just looking at this new gag manga that was on display. It wasn't supposed to come out until next week, but it's a Christmas Special."

She directed another longing gaze towards the bookstore in the plaza, and I hardly felt myself moving before I took her hand and cheerfully towed her in through the doors.

"What are you doing?" She asked, blushing and yanking her hand away. I ignored her question and politely tapped a store employee on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, sir? Could I please get that new gag manga in the window?" He nodded eagerly, handing me the book. Ignoring Rima's protests (because I'm such a gentleman), I paid for the book and handed it to her, walking out of the store.

"Merry Christmas, Rima." I smiled at her and she gave a shy smile back, looking as though she was trying very hard to be pissed off.

"You didn't have to do that." I waved her off.

"Nonsense. It's your Christmas present." _Plus, I'm kinda sorta in love with you. By the way. No big deal, just keep reading._

Honestly, I'm not sure when the crush started. I had liked Amu for quite a while back in grade school, but Rima intrigued me. She was the one girl that resisted all my charms; I could never get her to smile. She, for some unfathomable reason, hated me.

And so I fell in love with her.

Or maybe I'm just a hopeless romantic and a sucker for hard-to-get girls. Except Rima wasn't playing, or acting. She just _was_ hard to get. Which meant, to my naturally competitive nature, that I would make her mine.

But my God, she just wouldn't open up to anyone but Amu. I tried flirting, insulting, bickering, and even trying to get close to her as Nadeshiko. She didn't know my secret, of course, but she hadn't really liked Nadeshiko either. (Something about evil purple-heads trying to steal Amu.)

Her defense system (fit for national security) had softened a bit over the years. Still, falling in love for her wasn't easy. Amu had told me that Rima had had a grand total of…ba da dum, _zero_ crushes. She didn't know, of course, that I liked Rima, because Amu is the most oblivious person on the face of the Earth, and she would definitely tell Rima if she knew.

"Nagi, you're spacing out." Rima's calm, clear voice brought me out of my thoughts. She had spoken without looking up from her gag manga; I hadn't even noticed that we had been aimlessly walking on the sidewalk, passing trees wrapped in lights every five feet.

Wait. Did she just call me Nagi?

"Did you just call me Nagi?" I voiced my question, a hint of incredulity leaking through in my voice. Rima's eyes widened suddenly, her mouth forming a small 'o'.

She stopped reading before abruptly turning to a small wooden bench on the side of the road. She didn't answer the question, but her pink cheeks answered all by themselves. I sat down next to her on the bench, grinning like an idiot.

"You're grinning like an idiot." She accused, but I didn't care.

"So where's _my_ Christmas present, Rima-chan? After I got you such a wonderful one on the spot." I teased, drawing out a small white box tied with an orange sash. I handed it to her.

"Your original present. Care to open it?" She opened her mouth to protest, but I shook my head, smiling. She gingerly pulled on the bow, undoing it. She opened the box carefully, her eyes lighting up when she spotted what was inside.

"Oh! It's beautiful…" She said, lifting the small dream catcher out of the box. It was silver metal mostly; with metallic silver thread crisscrossing and binding an almost clear amber stone in the middle. Tiny, cascading ropes interwoven with silver tumbled from the bottom of it, a single magenta feather streaked with black contrasting against the silver.

She looked towards me, a genuine smile on her face. That in itself was so rare that it was a great present already.

"I… I feel like my present is crappy now." She admitted, taking out a small turquoise box. I accepted it, seeing that it was a small box of chocolates. I smiled graciously.

"Thank you, Rima-chan." She shook her head.

"Um, well, there was one more thing." She gave me a small peach blossom branch from her pocket, delicate petals fluttering against my skin.

"C-close your eyes." She stuttered. I blinked, obeying even though I was confused. And then I felt it. The slightest whisper, fleeting but firm, soft lips on my cheek. Gasping, my eyes flew open as I turned to the side and stared at a red-faced Rima.

"I-it seemed like a good idea at the time! I mean, who wouldn't want a kiss from me? But now… it just seems stupid. But I grew that peach blossom myself! Appreciate it! Because it's special, and-"

"Rima, calm down." I said, feeling lightheaded and dizzy with happiness. "Best present ever." I muttered to myself. Rima shut up, still blushing.

"Merry Christmas, you stupid cross dresser. I've got to get home." Rima finally said, after a while of me staring at nothing. I shook my head to clear it, and turned to her.

"Merry Christmas, little chibi." I ruffled her hair, which was a bold move for me since she usually would've killed me for messing up her huge waves.

"I'll walk you home. It's not safe for you at night." I stood up, stretching. She gently placed her dream catcher in the same bag as her gag manga, hopping off the bench. As she did, snow miraculously started to spin down around us. I suddenly realized something.

"Wait, did you just call me a cross dresser? I've never cross-dressed…" Meaning, I never told you about me being Nadeshiko. Did she find out somehow?

She smirked. "When you got us the Popsicles, I went through your drawers for any incriminating evidence to use against you. And I found it." She gave an evil little smile. "There were dresses and skirts and girl clothes!"

I panicked slightly. "Um, that was from when Nadeshiko was still living in our house. My mom wanted the other rooms completely clean in case of guests, so she just moved Nadeshiko's clothes into my room."

She gave me a doubtful look. "Your house has like, fifteen gazillion rooms. Is your mom really _that_ space conversant?"

I gave a nervous laugh. "Yeah, she's kind of weird sometimes."

Rima shrugged. "Whatever. Walk me home, cross dresser."

I sweat dropped as she turned away, swinging her bag slightly. But I hurried to catch up to her, and by the time we were close to her house, the snow had thickened and danced around in a flurry, thick white cotton embracing us, kissing our skin before fleeting away again.

Rima's cheeks were flushed with happiness, and I was glad to know that she liked my present. I knew I would treasure hers forever. She didn't hate me anymore, or at least I thought so. But she was a long way from loving me, and so my greatest challenge was present.

"We're here." Rima stopped in front of an ordinary looking house. I squinted to see the sign through the snow, but Rima confidently stepped up to the door.

She took a key from her pocket and inserted it into the lock, twisting it until there was a click. As the door swung open, we could hear various shouts and insults, in both male and female voices. It was increasing in intensity and nastiness when I looked at Rima. She had her head down, mouth trembling slightly.

"Rima, are you okay?" I asked in alarm. She gave a small, bitter laugh of sorts.

"Yeah, I'm fine. This happens all the time, anyways. Shouldn't have expected Christmas to be any different." She muttered, stepping inside and turning around.

Her expression was sad, and angry. Her eyes were brimming with tears that I could tell weren't fake. She gave me a smile, but it wasn't real, only barely forced and half-hearted.

"Go, Nagihiko. Bye."

Before I could respond, she slammed the door in my face. "Rima…"

"Why won't you let me help you when you hurt?"

* * *

**Yay! So, as a Christmas Special, I thought I'd write a chapter from Nagi's perspective, so you guys can see that he likes her and all that. Anyways, Rima made out with a window and called Nagi weird names! And Nagihiko spaced out a lot xD I kind of lied. The interesting stuff starts next chapter, I promise!**

**You know, a review would make a wonderful Christmas present. Justtttt sayin'.**

**Ciao~**


	7. Flaw 6: Story of Detention

Chapter 6~ Flaw #6~ Story of Detention

**Disclaimer: Don't own Shugo Chara!**

It was a quaint, normal morning in Home Ec. Class 2A was currently there, baking cream puffs, a recipe graciously suggested by a certain purple-head.

But, alas, all good things come to an end; this calm morning was disrupted by…

CRASH!

"God, you stupid purple-head! This is your fault!" I waved my spoon angrily.

"I wasn't even touching the bowl!"

"Exactly! I handed it to you, and you looked like you were holding it, so I let go!"

"How does that make it my fault?"

"It just is!"

"What kind of logic is that? Besides, you're not even whipping the cream right! You do it like this!"

"GAH! Don't touch me, freak!"

"Nobody _wants_ to touch you, chibi!"

"Don't make it sound so wrong! And-ahhh! I told you not to touch me!"

"You're messing up the cream!"

"I don't care! Get your hands off me! Rape!"

"Don't shout things like that, Rima! I'm not even touching you anymore!"

"Air rape!"

"It's not rape if it's air! That's contradicting!"

"Sensei, Nagihiko is being obscene!"

"Sensei, Rima was the one screaming obscene words!"

"He was touching me inappropriately!"

"I was holding your hand!"

"Same thing!"

"SHUT UP!" The teacher's deafening command made us all go silent. "MASHIRO AND FUJISAKI, DETENTION!"

Nagihiko and I exchanged glares. "Your fault." We both growled at the same time.

"I expect these floors to be sparkling! Now get to cleaning, and no talking!" The teacher slammed the door to the huge library shut, leaving Nagihiko and I with a pail of soapy water and two mops.

Five minutes into our work, we ignored the teacher's instructions and started talking. I guess even Nagihiko thought that anything would be better than nothing. It was a little too much to hope that he actually wanted to talk to me.

"Rima-chan, what's your favorite color?" I blinked in surprise at the question.

"I… I don't know. My favorite color changes a lot, but it's peach right now. I'm kind of an indecisive person, but once I do make a final decision, I don't change it."

He smiled. "Well, I don't know. I had thought you made the decision to hate me, but we're friends now, right?"

I huffed. If only he knew. "My decision was never to hate you, just to make sure that you didn't steal Amu away from me." _And I see you as more than a friend, _I added silently.

I straightened up as I took a break from mopping, suddenly remembering something. "Oh! Aren't we supposed to meet Amu at the mall after school today? She said something about a group gathering."

"Oh, yeah. Amu-chan said that everybody was going, and to not be late…" Nagihiko sweat dropped as we both realized that we were most definitely going to be late.

"HURRY UP AND MOP! I WILL NOT DISAPPOINT AMU!" I screamed, a deadly aura gathering around me as I furiously scrubbed.

"Stick with the rhythm, yo!" Rhythm gave Nagi a thumbs up before headphones popped into place around his neck, a glint of determination shining in his beautiful brown eyes.

He immediately started working hard, looking graceful and athletic as he got everything done within ten minutes. Kusukusu and I stood there watching, trying to keep a straight face and turning our heads side to side to follow Nagi's movements as he raced across the floors.

"Done-ow!" Nagihiko held his poor aching back as the chara change ended, Rhythm rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Sorry, Nagi. But things got done faster, right?"

"Kusukusukusukusu. Rima, you didn't even have to do anything!" Kusukusu giggled. I ignored her and grabbed Nagi's arm, pulling him out the doors.

"We're done, Sensei." I called, rushing out the doors while dragging Nagihiko behind me.

We arrived at the mall only ten minutes late, thankfully. We scanned the mall for a group of people with odd hair colors, seeing Amu's bright pink hair bobbing among the crowd immediately.

"Rima-tan! Nagi! We foouuuuuuuuuuund you!" Yaya glomped us out of nowhere, almost cutting off my circulation.

"Yaya…" Amu sweat dropped, holding one of her shopping bags. Ikuto was behind her, holding several bags that could only be Amu's. Behind them, in the store, I could see Utau arguing with the manager while Kukai stood by and watched interestedly. Tadase sat meekly on a bench, sipping some coffee.

And-was that Kairi trying to break up the fight? We saw him sometimes on the weekends, when we all hung out together, but this was the first time we all hung out on a school day. He didn't go to our school, but rather a private, elite academy for geniuses.

"Kairi made Yaya's head hurt with his smart talk!" Yaya wailed, clinging to Nagi's arm. He laughed, and I started to talk to Amu.

"Oh! Rima!" Utau spotted me and dragged me over to the store manager, who had to have had the strictest looking face in the world.

"Would you _please_ tell him that I'm an idol? A pop star?" Utau demanded, crossing her arms. I shrugged.

"Sure, but it might help if you took off your disguise first."

A look of realization dawned on her face, and Kukai looked dumbfounded. Did they really think the manager would recognize her when she was in disguise? Bakas! Although it was kind of funny.

"Rima, try this on!" I turned around and a piece of cloth hit me in the face. I caught it before it hit the ground, blinking. It was a pretty ruffled, white tube top, and it was the right size. I looked up at Amu, who had thrown it at me, and saw that she was already holding up a red floral skirt to go with it.

I was shoved into a dressing stall with the items, and I could see Amu's feet bouncing excitedly on the other side of the door. I shrugged; if Amu wanted me to try them on, why not?

I put them on, and they fit perfectly. They did look pretty good, if I do say so myself. I stepped shyly out of the dressing room, and Amu squealed.

"They're perfect! Buy them, Rima! Better yet, keep them on and tell the store people to rip the tag off!" She dragged me off before I could protest, paying for me and waving it off, saying that I could pay her back later.

After she paid and got them to rip the tags off, we turned back around to see chaos greet us.

Yaya and Kukai were in a brawl, wrestling over something trivial. Utau was still arguing with the store manager, although about what I wasn't sure. Tadase was cowering amongst the clothes, trying to avoid Yaya and Kukai's tornado of wrath. Nagihiko was trying to calm them down, only to have Kairi hit them on the head with a huge textbook. They stopped fighting and turned on Kairi, whom Nagihiko bravely tried to defend. (He failed.) Ikuto was egging them on, shouting out encouragements as Utau and the manager stopped arguing and tried to break it up.

Suddenly Tadase stood up and shouted, "Stop!"

Nobody listened to him. His eyes narrowed. "I didn't want to have to do this, but…"

"Sparkle attack!" His ruby eyes got huge and sparkling, diamond particles of light shining and reflecting around the room. His very being seemed to glow, and I found myself calmer and unconsciously drawn towards him, like flies to a light.

Everybody stopped arguing and stared, hypnotized and entranced. Stars started appearing in the room, and it looked exactly like it did when we were chara transforming, with the pink and ribbons of light and stars and whatnot.

"Are you calm now?" Tadase asked, puppy-dog eyes huge and pleading. Everybody nodded, including Amu and I.

"Okay." He stopped his sparkle attack and everybody shook his or her heads, muddled and confused.

"That was some scary shit." I heard Kukai mutter to Utau. She nodded, eyeing Tadase with new respect.

Mall trips are always so fun.

* * *

"Crepes!" Yaya shouted, rushing towards the stand, one free hand holding out money while the other struggled to hold up lollipops, cotton candy, rice cakes, regular cakes, pretzels, Starbucks coffee (really? Who let Yaya drink coffee?) And gummies, candy, and chocolate.

Kairi sweat dropped. "Ace, let me pay for you." Yaya, for some unknown reason, blushed when he stepped closer. (Or not so unknown. She obviously liked him.)

"Uh, don't call Yaya Ace! We're not guardians anymore, so just call me Yaya!" Yaya stammered, looking slightly uncomfortable.

I rolled my eyes and turned away from the lovebirds, only to see Ikuto harassing Amu, licking her ear perversely and all that.

"Step away from Amu!" I screeched, pointing a finger gun at Ikuto. He smirked at me.

"What'cha going to do about it, Shrimp?" He asked, pulling a tomato-red Amu closer to him. I fumed, turning away to see Kukai and Utau scarfing down their eighth bowl of ramen in a shop right next to us.

"What are _you_ going to do about _that_?" I asked, pointing to a blushing Utau as Kukai leaned in to kiss her. Ikuto's eyes zeroed in on his little sister, and he stalked over to them and started to lecture Kukai on how 'he better not hurt his little sister or he's dead'. Only problem… he was dragging Amu along with him.

"NO!" I turned to see Yaya's candy scattering all over the floor, and Kairi holding her back from going crazy and eating all her candy off the ground.

Tadase was blushing, surrounded by a group of older girls. "He's so cute!" Said one of them, poking Tadase's cheek. "And his hair," another purred. "It's _so_ soft."

Sweat dropping, I looked away again, only to see the most awful disgrace to comedy ever. A kid about ten years old was doing a gag, and an old one at that.

BUT HE WASN'T DOING IT RIGHT.

The last thing I remembered was Kusukusu going, "Kusukusukusu! Rimaaa, chara change!" And then the world was a weird discoloration. Kind of like floating in the outer space of a gazillion colors. I recognized that I was under the influence of a chara change, and prayed that I wasn't making too big of a scene.

"Rima!" Nagihiko's voice brought me back to the world, and I realized that I was frantically running in place, being held back by Nagihiko's arms around my waist.

His arms around my waist.

OHMYHOLYMOTHEROFGOD-Rima. Calm down. AHOHMYGODICAN'T!

I stopped running immediately and Nagihiko released his hold on my waist. I didn't turn around, willing my blush to die down before he saw it. He spun me around, and I realized that we were in a small corner at the end of the mall, somewhere near a food stand. Slightly far off, I could see the others apologizing to the kid and his mother (although Yaya screaming her head off didn't seem to help.)

"Are you okay?" Nagihiko asked, trying to hold back laughter. I groaned.

"What did I do?" I asked, not really sure if I wanted to know the answer. His grin grew wider.

"You went up to the little kid and started lecturing him, doing really weird gags and laughing hysterically. Then, you told him he was a disgrace to comedy and that he should go bury himself in a hole and that 'you don't deserve to see the light of day ever again!'"

I resisted the urge to laugh; it sounded pretty funny. I stood up, coming out of my little ball shape. I stretched, raking a hand through my hair and starting in the general direction of everyone else.

And then it happened. Again.

I screamed, collapsing and clawing at my chest. A terrible pain was gathering, throbbing, shooting through my veins. Something was creeping up my Heart's Egg, inside of me, smothering it and imprinting on it, engraving itself into my dreams. Something was painfully raking it as if something was trying to mountain climb inside of me. Nothing could describe the agony I felt, like my lungs were being torn out.

Nagihiko caught me as I shuddered and coughed, gasping and trembling violently. The pain had subsided enough for me to talk, but it was nowhere near gone.

"It _hurts_." I moaned, shaking. Nagihiko rubbed my back soothing, looking in my eyes. It helped slightly to be in his arms, but the immense pain was still shockingly there and tears spilled from my eyes uncontrollably.

Nagi stopped rubbing, and I knew something was wrong. "Rima?" I heard hesitation in his voice. "Where's Kusukusu?"

Where was she? She had disappeared the first time this happened, too. I knew what would come next from my past experience. Still trembling, I looked up at Nagi.

"This happened before. Once, when I was alone in my bedroom. It wasn't that long ago, but it wasn't this bad. I thought it was a stomachache or something… but then Kusukusu disappeared."

"And where is she now?" Nagihiko asked in a calm voice, but I could detect the fear lingering in his tone.

I pointed inward at myself, at the place where my Heart's Egg would be. Summoning it with my will, I closed my eyes as Kusukusu's egg slowly withdrew from my chest. It fell into my hands as I opened my eyes, cupping her egg in my palms.

Nagihiko stared. "That's…"

I nodded. Kusukusu's egg had been metallized halfway, the colors still the same, but now metallic. The first time it had happened, only a quarter had turned metallic. I wasn't sure what it entailed, but recently…

"I've noticed some small changes. I don't know what it is, but lately, Kusukusu's clothing has gotten the slightest tint of metallic to it. And her eyes, they almost look golden at times instead of her usual amber. I don't know what's going on, but I haven't been affected, and neither has she other than the physical changes."

I sniffed. The pain was gone now, Kusukusu's egg vibrating. She popped out and I started, eyes taking in her golden orbs and silver shoes. She was slightly different, again.

"And… something else. I-" I started, but never got the chance to finish, because that was when our group spotted us.

"Rima!" Yaya called, treating me to a Trademark Glomp. I shakily hugged her back, shooting a warning glance at Nagi. For some reason, I didn't think it would be wise to let the others find out. And I never got to finish telling him about the other different thing, but maybe it was good I didn't. Something wasn't right here, and I didn't want to risk other people getting hurt.

"Oh!" I let go of Yaya, remembering that I had probably dropped my bag when I harassed that poor kid. I explained to the group, before running off and hastily tacking on a, "You guys start going to Amu's car without me. Don't keep her Dad worrying!"

I found my poor deserted bag on the floor, and picked it up, heading towards the exit again. I could see everybody already out the glass doors, except for Nagi, who was halfway out.

Everything happened extremely fast after that. I opened my mouth to call out to them, and something smothered my mouth. My eyes widened as my arms were roughly grabbed from behind; and I was helplessly picked up into the air, my short legs kicking. I thrashed wildly, screaming into a black-gloved hand, and my bag dropped from my hand to the floor. There was no one around.

I bit down hard, and the hand let go for just a moment. A moment was long enough for me to scream,

"AMU!"

I desperately shrieked my best friend's name, but it was no use, because she was already out the door and she was talking happily with Ikuto, and-

Nagihiko's head turned as the glass door swung closed, and the hand clamped down on my mouth again, a sickly sweet smell invading my sense and making me dizzy.

"No…" I sobbed silently, and the arms took me away, dragging me as I weakly struggled, a haze of gray starting to swim across my vision. I just barely felt the arms throwing me, landing harshly on my back. I heard the screech of tires, and the smell of gasoline, and black doors slamming. But it all sounded distant and far away, and I gave in, fainting dead away.

A short while later, I woke up, head screaming with insane pain. I dragged myself into a sitting position, moaning and rubbing my head. I was in complete darkness, pitch black throbbing around me.

It had only been a moment, but I was sure he had seen me.

I was glad he didn't immediately bolt across the mall floors; they would've just grabbed him. But Nagihiko wasn't stupid. He would figure out a way to follow me, or something, and rescue me.

I could feel myself slipping into panic. It was strikingly familiar, the darkness, the claustrophobic feel, the bumpy motions of the car. All the painful and frightening disoriented memories came rushing back, of that time when I was seven and the same thing had happened.

_Calm down, Rima, calm down. _I told myself. _Nagi will come rescue you. He will save you. He will…_ But it was too late. Nothing could save me from this despair that I was falling into, trembling and shaking with tears and fright.

I had been kidnapped.

* * *

**I was furiously typing this as words like spewed out every which way. Scary how much I've update today! Anyways, things have gotten interesting, as promised. The beginning and mall trip stuff was just total crack, in contrast to the weird stuff happening with Rima's Egg and the kidnapping.** **I wanted it to seem light and happy at first, and then things would all start darkly spinning out of control. Don't worry, they won't be all angsty forever.**

**Anyhow! This is where the real adventure begins, children. What's happening to Rima's Heart's Egg? Is there anything wrong with Kusukusu? And will Rima be rescued from the hands of her evil kidnappers?**

**Review to find out.**

** xD Just kidding. Ciao~**

**(But a review would be nice.)**


	8. Flaw 7: Short Legs

Chapter 7~ Flaw #7~ Short Legs

**Disclaimer: Shugo Chara does not belong to me, but Fuko does. (Who's Fuko? Read on.)**

"Ow!" I glared up at my captor as he threw me into a cell. Well, I guess it was a nicer cell than the dark, putrid ones in movies, but I was still a prisoner.

For some unknown reason.

I mean, seriously? Why had I been kidnapped? Because if they wanted me to be in like a prostitution camp or something, they should've kidnapped a girl with actual curves. Something I lacked, unfortunately.

I picked myself off the ground, looking around my temporary confines. The room had peach colored walls (peach would most definitely not remain my favorite color) except for one side, which was midnight black with actual little sparkles in the stone wall. That was the side in which I had been thrown; solid rock would be impossible for me to get through. There was a small window at eye level, but way too small for me to squeeze through.

The floors were wooden, with a fluffy rug under the huge bed. I inspected it, poking the soft pillow to make sure there were no explosives or anything. The pillow didn't react.

I crawled into the big bed, burrowing myself under the blankets. The room was nice, but who gave a crap? I cried myself to sleep that night, wondering exactly what was going on.

* * *

I think I'm going insane.

It had been two days since they had thrown me into this room and practically forgot about me. Sure, whenever I woke up there would be food on the nightstand next to the bed, but other than that, it was almost as if I didn't exist.

I had nothing to do here. Most of the time, I either slept or cried. When I wasn't sleeping or crying, or eating, I was replaying my last memories before I was kidnapped.

Nagihiko had seen me, right? He had definitely seen me.

So why hasn't he rescued me yet?

I didn't know. Maybe it was too much to hope for. After all, Nagihiko was only sixteen. I wondered if he had told the others about me being kidnapped, and about my Heart's Egg.

Kusukusu patted my head. "Cheer up, Rima-tan! Nagi will definitely come rescue us!" She whispered. But she looked scared, and why wouldn't she? We had tried transforming into Clown Drop and blasting the wall, but it didn't work. We were defenseless in here. There was a small bathroom, but there was no way to get out from there, either.

The room was always fairly well lit, which I was actually kind of grateful for. If I were trapped in a room that was dark at night, I would've freaked myself out and probably gone crazy a long time ago.

That being said, I could feel myself slowly slipping into insanity, following an irregular routine. I would sleep and eat at random intervals, showering when I felt like it. There were spare clothes in the nightstand drawer, but it would only last another day before I had to wear my dirty clothes again.

It was approximately nighttime now. Or at least, I thought so. I couldn't tell. But it was the time I slept, so I crawled into the sheets and closed my eyes.

It was kind of strange how I wasn't freaking out anymore. How I didn't even feel scared, or how I had stopped crying. After so many days in solitary confinement with nothing to do, I felt kind of dead. Dull. I didn't even attempt to make conversation with Kusukusu anymore, and she spent more and more time in her half-metallized egg these days.

I drifted off to sleep again, wondering if I would ever see my friends again.

* * *

It was around midnight, I think, when I heard voices outside my cell. I stirred immediately, probably because it seemed like an eternity since I had last heard a human talk.

"Subject 1325?" A male voice asked. A female voice gave an "mhmm" of agreement.

And then the stone wall opened.

I had kind of sort of prepared for this, if it ever happened. But after so many days alone, my brain felt muddled and confused. Plus, I had just woken up. I couldn't even remember what it was I had intended to do if that wall ever opened.

Luckily, Kusukusu did.

"CHARANARI!"

I felt myself engulfed in a familiar pink light, and saw Kusukusu go back into her egg as I involuntarily grabbed it and transformed. I felt slightly confused and shocked; had Kusukusu just forced a charanari on me?

It didn't matter, though, because adrenaline suddenly pumped itself into my brain. I summoned my juggling pins out of thin air, and blindly threw them towards the wall. I heard someone go, "Ow!" And someone else say, "Get her!"

Yeah, well, too late.

"Tightrope Dancer!" Cue three confused people in lab coats tied up with ropes that could move on their own. Wait, lab coats? Scientists? And what had they called me, when I first heard them talking? A subject?

Whatever that was, it couldn't be good.

"Rima…" I heard Kusukusu's voice warn inside my head. I kept running down the hallway, marble-tiled floors and paneled ceilings illuminated with fluorescent lights. I could hear people chasing after me.

"I know!" I panted. I came to an abrupt halt as three men in black intercepted me from the front. I backed away, eyes frantically darting around for an escape route. I looked backwards; there were more men in black chasing me. They came to a stop about ten yards behind me, the same distance I was from the people in front of me. I gritted my teeth.

I was surrounded.

"Two choices, Rima. Fight or flee." Kusukusu whispered inside my head. I gave a grim laugh.

"There's nowhere to run."

"So we fight!" Kusukusu cheered and I whipped out my juggling pins and threw them at the people in front of me. They dodged, but in doing so, they opened up a path for me to escape through. I quickly ducked their grabbing arms and ran, faster than I had ever run in my entire life.

But I have short legs, dammit!

"Ah!" I screamed as somebody easily picked me up from behind. I lashed out, elbowing them and kicking backwards. They cried out, and dropped me.

"Tightrope Dancer!" I cried desperately, throwing ropes behind me in an attempt to confuse them and tangle them up. It worked, but only for a moment. More people just kept coming! I was getting tired, and I wouldn't be able to keep this up for much longer.

_Crap!_ Three people dived for me at the same time, effectively tackling me to the ground. I squirmed and thrashed, trying to get them off of me. I felt hands grab my wrists and lift me upwards. People also started grabbing my legs so that I couldn't move.

I narrowed my eyes. I wouldn't be taken again, not so easily.

"Juggling Party!" I shouted, and my juggling pins came crashing down on my captor's head. See, that's the good thing about having huge bowling pins come out of nowhere. I leaped up into the air and grabbed them, landing on one person's face.

His cry of pain was satisfying, but I had more pressing issues to think about. Like the fact that there were like FIFTY MORE PEOPLE coming towards me. And they were carrying GUNS.

I decided to hold my fire for the time being, and prayed that they would do the same. My eyes darted from captor to captor, taking in all the tiny details.

"Be ready to run, Rima!" Kusukusu squeaked telepathically. I gave an almost imperceptible nod, but it wasn't really necessarily, because, heck, Kusukusu was in my head.

I stood still. One of the people in black snickered.

"You're a feisty one, aren't you? Didn't think we'd have so much trouble with such a small girl." He spat, aiming his gun at me. "Don't move, or I'll shoot."

Fortunately, I was good at not moving. Unfortunately for them, I was also smarter than they gave me credit for.

They obviously didn't anticipate my next move, which was to drop, roll, and then run like hell. They stood there kind of dumbfounded and I sped out of their circle, running as fast as my legs would carry me.

"Can't hit a girl!" I screamed, before tripping down a flight of stairs. I jumped the last few steps, because the pounding feet were already after me.

"Ouch!" I hissed, because something weird had happened to my ankle when I landed. My ankle was in extreme pain right now, so I had either sprained or broken it.

Whatever I did to it, I could no longer run.

Hobbling away as fast as I could, I rounded a corner before crashing straight into another person clad in a black suit. I was shoved backwards onto the floor, and I cried out in pain as my ankle struck the ground. The people behind me had caught up, and I was utterly surrounded.

Wincing from the pain, I attempted to stand up, only to crash to the floor again. I was worn out, with no energy left to maintain the character transformation. With a poof, I was back to my normal self, Kusukusu tiredly drifting to the floor next to me.

"We've got you now." Said one of them nastily, grinning. I stared, defiant but frightened. What were they going to do to me now?

"RIMA!"

Those voices… Strange. I thought I heard Amu and Nagi call my name for a second, but that couldn't be-

"RIMA!"

There it was again. I must be hallucinating, or something. But I turned my head to the side and I saw two figures, one with pink hair and one with purple.

Okay. Was I officially insane, or was that Amu and the purple-head? I really hoped it was.

"Stay away from her!" I felt warm arms embracing me, drawing me close. I blinked, and stared at Amu as she hugged me protectively, fire burning in her eyes as she glared at the men in black.

Nagihiko stepped protectively in front of us, arms out to defend us.

"Amu…" My voice came out hoarse, quiet and cracking since I hadn't talked in so long. I looked up to Nagi, who was standing in front of us. "Nagi…"

"Rima, are you okay?" Amu asked worriedly, cupping my face and staring at me intently. "Did they hurt you? Because if they did, then I'm going to-"

"Now, now, Hinamori Amu, let's not forget our contract."

All heads in the room turned towards the speaker. It was a female voice, cold and calculating, with a hint of pleasantness. But I could tell it was fake. It was a woman clad in a business suit, with auburn hair and cold, icy blue eyes.

"Who are you?" I blurted out, narrowing my eyes. "What contract?" The woman smiled, but it didn't reach her icy, unforgiving blue eyes.

"I am the director of Easter."

There were a million things I could've said just then, ranging from "Easter sucks! Boo!" to "So what?" or "You disgusting creature!" But I never got to say any of them, because her next words chilled me to the bone.

"And as for the contract?" Her smile stretched wider. "Why, it's the one your friends made in exchange for your freedom…

…At the cost of their survival."

* * *

"Gosh! I'm _so_ sorry if I frightened you! It's just that, well, I absolutely adore dramatic entrances, and-"

The director of Easter continued to giggle.

"Is she crazy?" I whispered to Amu. She sweat dropped, before shrugging. We were currently sitting in her office, watching the maniacal woman laugh and giggle at all my questions and us.

"Why did you guys have to make a contract? And what exactly is this contract?" I demanded, staring at the woman in the suit. She stopped giggling for a second before beaming at me.

"Rima-chan, you're sooooooo cute!" I swear I saw flowers floating around her. She leapt up over her desk and started hugging me, practically cutting off my circulation. Nagi jumped up and pulled me out of her grasp.

The director plunged back down in her seat, still smiling. "I'm sorry, what was your question?"

I struggled to remain calm. "What contract?" I hissed through clenched teeth. The director started playing with her braid. Luckily, Amu saved me from ripping the director's head off.

"She told us that in order for you to be set free, that we would have to participate in an experiment. A competition. And so we agreed." Amu explained, looking towards the director for confirmation. She nodded, giggling yet again.

"Why didn't you just bust me out of here?" I cried. "Better yet, let's just knock this woman out and leave right now!"

Nagihiko and Amu surprised me by shaking their heads. "Easter has advanced since we last fought them." Nagihiko said quietly. "They found a way to seal our Heart's Eggs so that we can't transform. Even worse, they don't even have to touch our eggs to seal them."

The woman nodded. "Yes, yes! Except, there's one thing we can't fight against. The Influence! Oh, but none of you have developed it yet, not even-" she stopped talking, looking frightened as she stared at Kusukusu.

"You!" She shrieked, grabbing Kusukusu out of the air.

"Hey!" My chara protested. "Rima-tan, help!" I leapt up.

"Let go of her!" I shouted, but the director paid me no heed. She just stared into Kusukusu's metallic gold orbs before sighing and releasing her.

Kusukusu zoomed back to me, clinging to my shirt. I held her in my hands and glared at the director, who was all smiles again.

"Oh, it's all good. For a moment there, I thought your shugo chara had developed the Influence completely, but she's still halfway through." She clapped, tilting her head to one side.

"My name is Fuko Ichinose, by the way! But you can just call me Fuko! Or Fuko-chan! Or-"

"Stop. Please." Amu pleaded. "Your voice is making my head hurt."

The director- er, Fuko, sighed dramatically. "Alright." She whined. "What do you want to know?"

"What does the contract mean? What the heck is the Influence? What's happening to my Egg? And where is everybody else?" I directed the last question to Amu, who responded.

"I told them Nagi and I could come alone. I didn't want to risk getting anyone hurt." Her eyes were serious, and I understood what she meant. I was glad that childish Yaya wasn't here, because she could've easily gotten hurt.

"Well. The contract just means that you, Nagihiko Fujisaki, and Hinamori Amu have to participate in a little experiment, in the form of a competition, and I'll set you all free at the end. The Influence… well, I'll explain later. What's happening to your Heart's Egg is also related to that. And as for everybody else…"

"Bring them in!"

We watched in horror as several people dressed in black escorted all of our friends in.

"Let go of me, you filthy person! Do you know who I am? I'm Utau Hoshina! I'm famous! And I'm going to sue your ass off!" That was, quite obviously, Utau, being 'escorted' in.

"Waaah! Yaya doesn't like you people! Let go of Yaya!" Yaya screamed, wailing and kicking her legs.

"Ace, calm down!" Kairi struggled futilely in the grasp of two strong men. He probably could've used some calming down himself.

"Utau!" Kukai yelled angrily, straining against several men in black. His eyes showed desperate rage as he tried to get to his girlfriend.

"Amu!" "Amu-chan!" Ikuto and Tadase both shouted, looking concerned over the rosette.

Said girl with the pink hair rounded angrily on the director. "What's the meaning of this? You said you would leave my friends alone!"

Fuko giggled. "I lied. We never made a contract about that, did we?"

Amu trembled with anger. "If you're going to violate your agreement, then so will we. Rima, Nagi, we're leaving."

Fuko smiled, wickedness in her grin. "Oh, but if you leave, what will happen to your poor, poor friends?" She asked innocently. All our friends were now in the room, each held by at least two men. They were lined up in a row, each struggling in their own defiant way, but looking frightened nonetheless.

"You're evil!" Nagihiko shouted as more agents swarmed in, grabbing Nagi and Amu, as well as restraining me. I watched helplessly as a person with some strange looking device pressed a button, and suddenly all the charas were forced back into their eggs.

Fuko laughed. "Now, now, let's not call each other names. Play nice, children! Because we're about to start my favorite game. _All of you._"

All of us were dragged away, screaming and kicking. As we exited the door, I saw Fuko give me one last giggle.

And then I was thrown back into the room, with just me, myself, and I.

* * *

**Hmm. This chapter was a bit long and sadly lacking in Rimahiko. I'll make up for it next chapter, though! And did the characters seem OOC? Because I wasn't sure how they would react to all this. **

**Umm.. what else...**

**Review?**

**Because a bunch of questions will be answered next chapter, and it makes me feel warm and fuzzy to know that people actually want answers!**

**Ciao~**


	9. Flaw 8: Deal With A Witch

Chapter 8~ Flaw #8~ Deal With A Witch

"Your turn, Rima Mashiro." A gruff voice sounded outside my window. I sat on the bed, curled up in my ball and refused to move. I would make them come drag me away, if only to spite them. I heard the impatient tap of a foot outside.

"Geez, why are people always so stubborn?" The man complained before pressing some kind of button that made my wall slide open. The huge hulk of a person came in and easily picked me up, despite my reluctance (read: kicking and biting and cursing) and dumped me into a bin.

Seriously. A _bin._ That was on a _cart. _Couldn't Fuko at least be a little nicer to her captives? I scrambled to get out of the bin, but someone just slammed a lid on. With a little hole for air!

"I'm not a freaking dog!" I screamed indignantly, pounding on the bin.

"Quit complaining, girlie. I'm just following orders." The gruff voice was accompanied by a wonderful, nice kick to the side of the bin. I decided to quiet down so I could plot their slow, painful deaths for when I got out.

The ride was only a few minutes long. (Yeah, they were actually pushing the cart with me on it.) When someone finally opened the lid, I desperately leapt out, lashing out and clawing at…

A sofa.

"Oomph!" I rolled over so that I was kind of sitting on the couch instead of having my face smooshed into the velvet. Someone had evidently dumped me out of the bin and onto the sofa. I took a moment to take in my surroundings. I was in an office of some sort, sitting on a couch with brown velvet and plush turquoise pillows, staring forward at a mahogany desk, and beyond that, a window with gold curtains draped and-

GAH! IT'S FUKO!

My first instinct was to shrink into the sofa and glare at her like she was an alien. Which I did. And then, my second instinct was to jump up and go,

"I hate you! Let me go! And my friends, or I swear that I will wipe that stupid smile of yours off your ugly hobbit face!"

Which I also did.

She only laughed and clapped, a wide grin stretched across her face, and she seemed unaffected. My comment didn't seem to offend her, and I could guess why. First of all, I was kind of tiny and alone, because they had sealed Kusukusu's egg for the time being. And second of all, Fuko was actually quite pretty, so I couldn't really say anything about that, either…

For the first time, I noticed her appearance past her hair color and eye color. She wore her thick tresses down, a braid running along the side of her head. Her large, ice blue eyes blinked pleasantly, set against creamy white skin and cute pink lips.

She wore a Lolita style dress, as opposed to the formal business suit she had donned the first time, the one that had made her look older. But now, looking at her in a dress, I noticed something odd.

While she was certainly tall… FUKO WAS A TEENAGER.

"Oh my God!" I shouted, still pointing. I had mistaken her for an adult the first time since she had towered over me with that whole scary "Your friends are gonna die!" thing.

Why are the directors of Easter always little kids who have no idea what to do with their power?!

I have the worst luck ever.

Her smile dropped and she blinked in confusion. "What is it, Rima-chan?" I smiled pleasantly back.

"Nothing, Fuko-chan. Why did you bring me here?" I asked, acting the same way I usually was around Amu. It was sickening, but I knew that you should always keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. Also, I didn't really feel like pissing her off. She was like Yaya on a sugar high combined with Tadase during a character change. But worse.

A huge smile appeared on her face then, and she got off her chair, squealing as she danced towards me. (She's _way_ taller than I am. Like, Ikuto-tall.) She took my hands in hers excitedly, giggling.

"Rima-chan, I'm so glad! You're the only one who's been so nice to me! All the others-" she started pouting, "-they all wanted to kill me, or something. One of them, the brunette guy? He actually jumped on my desk and tried to throw stuff at me. I had to call security." She motioned towards a shattered vase on the floor.

I internally sweat dropped. Just like Kukai to do something stupid like that. Fuko sniffed, looking hurt. I resisted the urge to tell her that she _was_ the one that had kidnapped all of us.

"Aw, Fuko! It's all right. They can be a little rough sometimes, but I'm sure they'll come around! Meanwhile, why don't you tell me about this Influence thing?" I suggested, emitting sparkles. She nodded eagerly.

"Right, I promised!" She pulled me over to the sofa and sat down, patting the seat next to her and pulling me down before I could actually do so on my own.

"Well, Rima-can I just call you Rima? Thanks! Okay, so you see, Rima, the Influence is something new that's been emerging around the world. I think you're actually one of the first to start developing it. Nobody knows where it came from, or how, but people with the Influence are extremely rare right now."

She leaned towards me, as if sharing something confidential. "But not for long. You see, the Influence is contagious, like a virus. Your purple-haired friend-_very_ cute, by the way- has already started to be affected by being around you. He didn't say anything, but I examined his eggs. He's already experienced the first pain."

"The Influence is powerful. And while it is contagious, only the people who have Shugo Chara will be able to access its power." She beamed at me. "That's why I chose all of you for this experiment! Even among chara holders, your group of so-called 'Guardians' is extremely special. You once managed to defeat Easter, and you were only in grade school."

"We're not Guardians anymore." I cut in quietly. "Just to clarify."

Fuko rolled her eyes. "Well, you are now, because I'm too lazy to come up with a new name for your group!"

"Anyways, the mechanics of the Influence are quite simple. From what Easter knows, the Influence starts developing slowly, but then progressively faster. It hurts every time it develops further, because it is engraving its presence and power into your Heart's Egg. It's bound to hurt if someone's carving something into your chest, right?"

"It develops in quarters on your Heart's Egg. Kusukusu is already halfway developed, and so some of your powers should start emerging soon. However, you won't be able to tap into their full potential until her entire egg has been turned by the Influence."

"Powers?" I echoed, confused.

She nodded. "Yeah! You might act innocent, Rima, but I can tell by the look in your eyes that you already have an idea of what I'm talking about."

Great. Another person who can see through me. I stayed silent. No sense in telling her what I thought my power might be.

"What kinds of powers?" I asked, genuinely curious. She giggled again, but I was too concerned with her answer to be annoyed.

"Supernatural ones, Rima! Mind reading, breathing underwater, invisibility, flight, and those are just some of the more common ones. There have been records of people who could read the future, convince people to do anything with just their voice, and even elementals."

I stiffened. "Elementals?" I questioned, working to keep my voice steady. She nodded again, a glint in her eyes.

"Those are extremely rare, though. We only knew of one. It was somewhere in Russia, I think. She could control the earth. Influence rocks and dirt, shifting it and creating cracks and earthquakes." Fuko mused.

I swallowed. "And what happened to her?"

She smiled pleasantly at me. "She died. Government got her."

I stared, trembling slightly. "I want to go back to my room."

She shrugged. "Okay. If you answer a question." I looked at her cautiously.

"Are you going to participate calmly in the experiment tomorrow?" She asked, tilting her head. I narrowed my eyes.

"No, I don't plan to. You might want to tell your guards to wear some armor." She laughed at my answer.

"Is there any way I could convince you to?"

I considered this for a second.

"Perhaps."

* * *

"Why did you make a deal with the witch?" Amu demanded. I shrugged.

"It seemed smart. Actually, it still seems smart. This way, we all get to be together. And I only said that _I_ would behave. I didn't say the rest of you would." I explained, satisfying Amu. She relaxed, slightly, sitting down on the carpet again.

"Utau Hoshina." An agent announced, shoving the blond into our now much larger room. She gave him one last glare before turning to look at us.

"Somebody want to explain why we're allowed to be together now?" She asked, raising an eyebrow and putting her hands on her hips. Amu jerked a thumb towards me.

"Rima made a deal with Fuko. She would participate calmly in the experiment, and in return, Fuko has to let us all sleep in the same room and be together at all times. They brought Rima to this big room first, and then me, and now you. I guess they'll keep bringing in the other guys."

As if on cue, the agent came back, this time with Yaya. The next five minutes were spent calming her down and comforting her, and giving her candy. (Which was conveniently placed in a bowl on one of the various nightstands.)

"Kukai Souma!" Somebody said, and then pushed Kukai into the room. He had his hands bound with ropes and was blindfolded.

"Oh my God, Kukai!" Utau rushed over, hurriedly pulling off the ropes and blindfold. "What happened? Why are you the only one that was tied up?"

"He attacked Fuko, that's why." I came up to them, watching them embrace and patting myself on the back mentally for being so awesome. Kukai glanced at me curiously. I waved. "Fuko told me."

"Oh." He growled, looking pissed. Utau changed that real soon, though, as she kissed him, just as somebody escorted Ikuto in.

"Amu!" His eyes lit up, and he came over to us, gingerly cupping Amu's face, as if she might not be real. She turned so red that she could've passed for a tomato, and I had to restrain my laughter as Tadase joined our little party.

"This should be interesting." I mused, watching Tadase enviously glare at Ikuto and Amu.

"Kairi!" Yaya burst out, directing all our attention towards the green-haired samurai that was walking gracefully into our room. Yaya ran towards him, sobbing in his arms. He stroked her hair gently. I coughed, and both of them blushed. I raised my hands.

"Don't mind me." I said, smiling slightly.

"Oh, like you wouldn't do the same thing if Nagihiko came in right now." Amu teased, sitting down on the carpet again. I sat down next to her, sniffing.

"Yeah, right! Where is Nagi, anyways?" I asked, casting a glance towards the door. Amu looked slightly shocked that I had used his nickname, but it was gone in an instant.

"Nagihiko Fujisaki… last one." Someone called, sounding slightly annoyed. Nagihiko was then shoved into our room as well, the wall slamming shut. His eyes zeroed in on me.

"Rima!" He stumbled over to me, clutching my shoulders. "Are you alright? I saw you getting kidnapped, and I should've done something right away, but I didn't know what I should've done, and I was so stupid, letting you-"

"N-Nagi." I stuttered, cutting him off. "It's okay. But be faster next time!" I added, crossing my arms and trying to pretend that his closeness didn't totally scramble my brains.

He hugged me then, seeming more relieved than I was. "There won't be a next time, Rima. I'm sorry."

"Uh…" I answered, feeling my heart kind of go crazy. I was great at poker faces, though.

"Rima and Nagi, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Yaya giggled, chanting. "First comes-" A glare from me put a quick end to that.

Amu yawned. "I'm getting tired. We should figure out sleeping arrangements."

We all observed the room. There were four bunk beds, and one twin size bed. That meant that each of us would get a bunk, and someone would sleep in the twin size by themselves.

Just to avoid complications (because with these people, complications can be made out of anything), we decided to draw names. We used toilet paper and a pen we found in a nightstand drawer, and put them into an empty pillowcase that we drew out of. Results were as follows:

**Amu, Ikuto**

**Rima, Yaya**

**Tadase, Utau,**

**Kairi, Kukai**

**Nagihiko**

"Why am I with the pervert?" Amu cried, looking embarrassed and scared at the same time. Ikuto ruffled her hair.

"That's just the way it is, strawberry." He purred, hugging Amu despite her protests.

"Don't call me a strawberry! And I bet you rigged the thing!" Amu responded, flustered. He shrugged, giving her innocent puppy-dog eyes. (Well, kitten-eyes. Amu gave in and let him drag her to their bunk bed.)

"Guess, we're together, Rima-tan!" Yaya said happily, latching on to my arm. I smiled at her, nodding my head in agreement.

"Can Yaya have top bunk? Please please please? Yaya wants the top bunk!" Yaya pleaded, and I nodded. I had no problems with that, since I would probably fall off the ladder if I tried to get up there.

"Hey, Kiddy King, this'll be fun! You get to bunk with your older sister!" Utau said cheerfully, throwing an arm around Tadase's neck. He, frankly, looked terrified.

"Yo, I'm Kukai! You took over Jack's Chair after me." Kukai said, holding out his fist in greeting. Kairi bumped fists with him, smiling a little bit. I realized that they had never really met, despite the fact that we all hung out together.

"I get the single bed." Nagihiko state smugly, diving into the bed that he got to himself.

"Because you're going to be a loner forever." I responded matter-of-factly. He grinned evilly.

"Not if you decide to say yes when I propose." He teased (I think) before lying down on his bed.

"Never!" I fumed, gaping. (On the inside, I was going 'I definitely would', but he doesn't have to know that.) "Yaya, let's go shower."

"Okay!"

And so started our slumber party as captives.

* * *

**Ahh, sorry it took so long to update! (Curse my French homework!) Anyways, hope you guys liked the chapter. I stuck in a little bit of Rimahiko at the end, but the fluff is going to be in the next chapter. **

**So how are you liking the story so far?**

**Let me know in the review section, will ya?**

**Cheers to 2012, and welcome 2013!**

**Ciao~**


	10. Flaw 9: Lightning

Chapter 9~ Flaw #9~ Lightning

**Disclaimer! Author-san does not own Shugo Chara!**

"Wow."

I stared in astonishment at the bathroom we got. It was HUGE, much larger than the one I had when I was alone. (Well, I guess it kind of made sense, since there were more of us.) There were stalls, so I guess it was a male + female bathroom. But there was also a hot tub, and several pristine marble sinks, and five showers. Towels were piled up in a corner, and bath stuff was all crowded on the vanity table. There was a white closet, but I didn't know what was inside. I was too busy examining the pillows in the bathtubs.

Yaya, after looking for five seconds, started freaking out. "OMIGOD! Amu-chi, Utau-chan, come look at what Yaya and Rima-tan found!" Well, we didn't really _find_ it, but that was beside the point.

Amu popped her head in, Utau following. "What?"

Their eyes soon widened, taking in the scene before us. However, they had a totally different mindset than I did. I was basically thinking about how nice a bath here would be, while Amu and Utau rushed straight to the closet and charged in, squealing when they found swimsuits and makeup and…undergarments. Let's leave it at that.

"Let's go hot tubbing!" Utau said enthusiastically. I wrinkled my nose, frowning. While it sounded fun, were we just supposed to leave the guys out there while we had fun? But then again, if we all went hot tubbing together, things would be awkward. Was tubbing even a word?

Amu and Utau evidently didn't give a shit, because they screamed out the guys' names right after. They talked so fast all the names blended together.

"Kukairikutohmygodthere'sabikini! I call that one! OhandNagiandtadase~!"

The guys came rushing in, looking concerned.

"Utau? What's wrong?" Kukai asked worriedly, but coming to a halt and blushing as he caught sight of Utau holding up a light pink bikini. Utau turned around, grinning. "Hot tub!" She cackled gleefully, dropping the pink bikini and picking up a purple one that matched her eyes instead.

Even Yaya joined in, digging through the swimsuits with gusto. As she bent over, her hair ribbon fell out, and her auburn hair tumbled over her shoulders, cascading sleekly down her back.

I backed away slowly, feeling ashamed for my gender. Really, you would think that the girls would have more control.

The guys all looked flustered and awkward, except for Nagihiko. Oh, no, he was perfectly fine. Probably because he had a sister. But he, with no good intentions, shoved me into the pile of clothing, grinning wickedly.

"Rima, you should join them." He suggested innocently. I picked myself up and glared at him, trying to melt through that messed up mind of his.

"RIMAA!" Amu screeched, grabbing my arm and spinning me around. "Wear this! It'll look perfect on you!" I took one glance at the garment, and tried desperately to back away again. I was back to wearing my tube top and red skirt from the mall, but I would NEVER wear anything like what Amu was holding up.

She couldn't make me even if she offered to buy me a thousand gag mangas! She couldn't even if I was UNCONCIOUS! Actually, she would probably have to kill me in order to put that on me. She just couldn't!

Five minutes later, I was dressed in a halter-top bikini with navy striped print, and a bikini bottom to match.

Dang it!

I wrapped myself in a towel, refusing to let anyone see me in this abomination. But Nagi, being the evil and perverted jerk he was, cooed,

"Oh come on, Rima, there's nothing to be shy about. I'm sure you look perfectly _delectable_ in that swimsuit."

"EW! HENTAI! GET AWAY FROM ME!" I shrieked, pummeling him with small fists as he yanked my towel away from me. Gosh, I sounded like Amu when she was talking to Ikuto. I swear, I will never make fun of her for that again.

Crap! Now my towel's gone!

Acting quickly I dove into the hot tub and cowered. There wasn't any water in it, but that changed as soon as Utau turned a knob and water came shooting out the jets, dousing me as I shrieked.

"Utau!" I screamed, or as close to a scream as it could be for me. She gave me an evil laugh again, making me wonder how she kept this side of her hidden all the time. Even the guys were having trouble not laughing, chuckles bursting out every now and then.

"Party!" Amu cheered, diving in the tub next to me. I couldn't even crouch into my ball position anymore since the water was more than halfway full and I would've drowned if I tried. Amu's entrance caused the water to slosh, wetting my precious hair (do you know how hard it is to wash hair as thick as mine? It takes work!)

I tucked my legs as close to me as possible without submerging as everyone else jumped in, having changed into swimsuits in the stalls. Nagihiko was the last one in, tying up his hair before he stepped gracefully into the water.

"I'm so glad we found-" Amu stopped abruptly midsentence, staring at Nagihiko. Her eyes were wide, expression disbelieving. Nagihiko noticed her gaze and blinked, confused, and then a look of horror dawned on his face.

"Nadeshiko?" Amu breathed, but obviously that wasn't possible, since Nagi was shirtless (oh my god, he has abs!) and he obviously wasn't a girl. Nagihiko laughed nervously, quickly taking his hair down.

"What, Amu-chan?" He asked pleasantly, but I could detect fear and doubt penetrating through the friendly demeanor. He was lying, and I could and should call him out for it, but I waited to see where this would lead.

Amu shook her head as if to clear it. "For a moment… you looked almost exactly like Nadeshiko. I think my eyes went a little weird, because I thought you were her."

Nagi chuckled again. "We are twins, Amu-chan. Maybe you're just tired."

She frowned. "Yeah, I guess. But you really did look a lot like her." She then laughed, scratching her head sheepishly. "Wouldn't it be funny if you _were_ Nade-chan, and you were actually pretending to be a girl?"

"Ha, ha, ha!" Nagihiko forced out a choked laugh, awkwardly smiling and nodding. "That would be VERY funny!"

Ooooohkay. Something was wrong here. Nagihiko was lying, and he seemed to be really sensitive to the topic of Nadeshiko. Also, before, he hadn't been all awkward with the bikinis and stuff…

And Amu was right. When Nagi put up his hair, he looked exactly like the girl in the portrait.

Oh. My. God.

"Nagi, are you-" I started, but never got to finish because Tadase and Kukai simultaneously clapped their hands over my mouth, bursting out laughing for no apparent reason (nothing's funny! Stop, you idiots, in the name of comedy!) And started a random conversation about absolutely nothing. Nagihiko looked immensely relieved, only serving to confirm my suspicions. He shot me a look, one that said "Tell and die."

Hey, he copied that from me… I invented that look.

But whatever! That wasn't important right now, because Amu needed to know that Nagihiko was really actually-

"Rima! I forgot to get some towels from the closet in the room, so come with me to help carry them!" Nagihiko said cheerfully, grabbing my arm and hauling me out of the hot tub. I opened my mouth to protest, but Amu beat me to it.

"Wait, there are towels in that corner. And why Rima? She could probably carry the least." She asked, puzzled.

Utau waved a hand lazily. "Oh, let him be. He probably just wants to spend time alone with her while she's in a bikini because he's madly in love with her and lusts after her."

Yaya giggled.

Her comment caused my face to turn bright red, and Nagihiko stopped walking for a second.

"Yeah, that's totally it! Bye, guys! Be back in a few!" Nagihiko blurted out, dragging me out the door. I slapped his arm away as we entered the room again, glaring.

"I can walk on my own, Nagihiko!" I protested, crossing my arms as we stood in front of a mega closet in the room. He rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. Look, Rima, Amu can't know." He urged, eyes smoldering. Oh god. I was _this_ close to agreeing. But hey, I'm Rima Mashiro. I don't give in that easily, even if it was Nagi I was up against.

"Amu can't know what?" I asked innocently, making my eyes go wide and emitting an aura of flowers and happiness that most people can't even begin to counter.

He glared. Wow, he has better defense mechanisms than I thought. "You know what I'm talking about." He hissed. I shrugged nonchalantly.

"Nope, I'm afraid I don't." I stated cheerfully, giving him a smile. He looked at me, awed at my stubbornness. Or maybe just pissed off. But who cared? I was going to make him say it.

"You do know. I'm not going to say it and risk her hearing, but it you care about Amu, you won't tell. She won't hear it from anyone but me. And if you do tell, you'll just be hurting her and it won't make anything tell her. So if you care, don't tell."

Damn, he had me there. If I told Amu Nagi's secret, she would definitely be hurt. And this would probably be a terrible time, what with us being kidnapped by a teenager and all that. Except it didn't really feel like we were prisoners. More like in a hotel.

But that wasn't the case, and I could easily break free of this illusion as I looked at the stone wall. We were prisoners, and who knew how this news might affect Amu on top of being kidnapped?

"Fine." I agreed quietly, sighing. "Now let's go back. I'm freezing." I stalked back to the bathroom, slipping into the tub next to Amu. I had to sit on the bench thing because I was so short.

"Oh, hey Rima!" Amu greeted me. "Where are Nagi and the towels?"

Well. He could deal with that one on his own.

Right on cue, he walked in with an armful of towels. "Here, Amu-chan. Turns out Rima wasn't much help."

I huffed, slouching down in the water and refusing to make eye contact. I enjoyed the warm feel of the water kissing my skin…

Before I knew it, I slipped into sleep, still lying in the water.

I vaguely remembered waking up a few hours later on my bunk, dressed in a nightgown. I assumed Amu or Utau had probably dressed me and put me in my bed. Actually, I was sure it was one of them because I was wearing a lacy garment that I would NEVER voluntarily put on, and the fabric was thin and revealing. It exposed my shoulders, some of my back, most of my legs, and dipped lower than I would've liked. How did they even get this thing on me, with all the ribbons and whatnot? Whatever. I could barely breathe, with all the strings tied tightly in a corset around my midriff.

The blankets were warm, though, so I just buried myself in them and went back to sleep.

Only to be woken by the sound of thunder.

I screamed into my pillow as lightning split the sky, crackling with electricity. I HATED THUNDERSTORMS. I wasn't actually afraid of the thunder, because I lived in a house where noise was a common thing. But the lightning scared me, creating shadows on the walls and tormenting me by making shapes that reminded me of terrible days.

Oh god, the first time I had been kidnapped, with the terrifying man in the black standing over me, caressing my cheek and grinning evilly…

The lightning danced, forming horrible monsters straight from my nightmares. I wrapped the blankets around me tighter, squeezing my eyes shut and trying to escape from the awful memories and the fear.

I trembled as more thunder shook the room, and lightning made its way past all my barriers. I gasped, feeling my heart racing and my breath becoming shallow and frantic. I whimpered as a jagged white-blue scar across the sky accompanied a particularly loud hit of thunder.

I couldn't be by myself. It was at times like these where I needed someone to hold me, comfort me, and assure me that I wasn't falling back in the abyss of despair.

Teeth chattering from fear and cold, I shakily got out of my bed, shivering as cold air hit my bare skin. I gulped as lightning and thunder continued to rocket around the room, creating vague shadows of horrific beasts.

Where was it coming from anyways? I didn't remember there being any windows. A look upwards answered that, though, because the entire ceiling was made of glass. There were lights attached to it, but evil Fuko had apparently turned them off, because the room was pitch black save for the occasional flashes of lightning.

Crap. Crap. Bad thoughts, bad memories, coming back to torture me. I needed someone, and I need them now.

Amu? No, she was sleeping and I didn't want to disturb her. Yaya? Ugh, she was on the top, and I couldn't climb a ladder in the darkness. That left out all the people on the top, which were Amu, Yaya, Utau, and Kairi. On the bottom, there was Tadase, who was probably just as scared. Then there was Kukai, but jumping into his bed wouldn't be right since he was dating Utau. And then there was Ikuto, who was just… no. Especially not while I was wearing something like this.

That left Nagihiko. He wouldn't care, right? He had always been a gentleman, which usually infuriated me, but I was glad for that now. Even if I was wearing something so indecent, he wouldn't judge and he wouldn't be awkward. Also, he had an uncanny ability to comfort people and make them feel safe. Plus, he had the single bed, so no ladders were involved.

I crept over to him, still shaking as I took small steps. I tugged fearfully on his blanket, shuddering as another wave of lightning burst into the room.

He shifted, blinking his ochre eyes. They opened sleepily, looking at me. I gasped, scared of the strange shapes the lightning made on his curled form under the blanket. He looked confused, though, and staring into his eyes, I knew that he was still Nagi, not to be made into something worse by the lightning.

"I-I'm scared." I whispered. I stumbled on, trying to explain. "It's just that I've always been afraid of l-lightning, because I-Ah!" I let out a yelp as lightning once again struck, involuntarily crouching over him and clutching his blanket.

I felt a warm hand on my back, as Nagi gently lifted me into his bed. "Shh." He soothed, running his hands through my hair as I clung to the fabric of his shirt, buried in his chest, shaking. "It's okay. It's going to be okay. I'm here."

He was warm, and his caresses were soothing. I relaxed into him, my tense muscles loosening as he hugged me, lying under the blankets. He continued to whisper encouragement, holding me close. I could hear his heart beating, and the steady drumbeat of his heart lulled me to sleep.

When the lightning hit again, I didn't even spare a gasp, feeling safe tucked in Nagi's arms.

And as I drifted off to sleep again, I knew that I wanted to stay there forever.

* * *

**AWWWWWWWW. So much fluff and so cute xD Of course, I'm biased because I wrote it and all, but...ya know. This is one of the fluffier episodes/chapters, because I think it would be impractical to have them snuggling all the time. Gotta keep the logic! Plus, that way I get to tease you guys. **

**Also, in the chapter, I did kind of tease since Nagi almost dropped his secret more than once, and even though we all know what it is, he never got to SAY it. xD But just to clear up any confusion, Amu doesn't know his secret, but Kukai and Tadase do since Tsukasa told them in the anime. Also, Rima figured it out, but didn't get to say it either.**

**Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed and sorry for not updating for a few days. Happy Friday! From now on, I'll try to update every Friday or earlier.**

**~Sea-chan**


	11. Flaw 10: Technology Hates Me

Chapter 10~ Flaw #10~ Technology Hates Me

"What the heck?"

"Oh my god, do you think they… did anything?"

"Haha, I bet Rima's glad we made her wear that now!"

"Guys, shut up! You'll wake them!"

"Too late." My eyes flew open as I heard Nagi's 'pretending-to-be-cheerful-but-really-plotting-your-bloody-demises' voice.

"What's going on?" I asked, my own voice sounding slightly distressed. I was still sleepy, wrapped up in Nagi's arms.

Wait.

Oh no crap, crap, crap, they're totally going to get the wrong idea now!

"It's not what it looks like!" I cried, trying to untangle myself from Nagi's grasp. He let go immediately, and I bolted out of his bed, running into the bathroom and locking it so that nobody could see me hyperventilating.

Thankfully, they left me alone. I felt slightly bad that Nagi was the one that had to deal with their interrogation, but I definitely didn't want to face their weird questions.

After a while, I straightened up and rummaged through the closet, pulling out sophisticated black dress. It was slightly flowy, but casual and pretty. Pairing it with some ballet flats and a light pink ribbon in my hair, I washed my face and brushed my teeth, making sure to mark which toothbrush was mine.

Emerging cautiously from the bathroom, I relaxed when I saw that nobody was crowding Nagihiko and asking him questions. Everybody seemed slightly distraught, sad and miserable, sobered up in his or her pensive thoughts.

I sat down on the carpet in their little circle; nobody said anything.

"This is bad." Amu's voice cracked, breaking the silence. She wasn't even trying to maintain her cool and spicy image anymore, instead choosing to gaze forlornly at the ground.

The others murmured their agreement.

"It seems nice here. Not really like we've been kidnapped, but come on. This is Easter." Amu continued, tone bitter. "What are they going to do to us? And our charas? What if they never let them out of their eggs? Those are our DREAMS in there!" Her voice rose in intensity and pitch, hysterical and frightened. Then, her voice dropped again, breathless and broken. "And I miss Ami, and Mom, and Dad…what if I never see them again?"

She didn't protest when Ikuto pulled her into an embrace, a single tear leaking from his sapphire eye. Amu clutched his shirt, sobbing quietly.

"We have each other." Utau encouraged half-heartedly, holding on to Kukai's arm. He patted her back, trying to form a smile.

Nagihiko forced out a laugh. "Well, if you think about it, things can't get any worse, right? We'll find a way out."

I opened my mouth, about to agree, but instead a scream ripped itself out from my throat. Everybody's heads snapped towards me, as I collapsed in the middle, shaking and rolling around in fits of agony.

The pain was back.

"Rima, are you okay?!" Someone-not Nagi, which was weird, because he had seen this before-asked. I looked up and saw pink hair, my vision blurring the fine details of Amu's face. I could see other people crowded around me, but not all of them, and no purple.

I squinted forward, and saw why. Nagihiko was doubled over in pain was well, although silently. He clutched his chest, bent over and kneeling. I felt a flash of sympathy, but the searing pain in my Heart's Egg quickly replaced that.

I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I remembered that the fire had seemed to work it's way through my veins, burning. My palms felt so warm that I wondered if there was something else wrong with me. Nagihiko, strangely, was clawing at his throat.

And then I blacked out.

* * *

"Rima? Rima-chan?"

"Is Rima-tan awake yet?"

"Not yet, Yaya."

"Wait…" I said groggily, blinking as Yaya and Kukai came into focus. Yaya had her hand on my forehead, and Kukai was scratching his own in a worried manner.

I didn't have to ask what happened. I was pretty sure I could figure it out, anyways. "Nagi?" I croaked, asking silently how he was. Kukai nodded.

"He's okay. Resting over there, but he didn't pass out."

"Rima!" Amu bent over, staring into my eyes, relief in her expression. "What happened?"

"Yeah, Rima-tan, what happened?" Yaya asked curiously.

"Do you know, Rima?" Utau appeared behind Kukai, looking concerned but still getting down to business.

"Influence." I croaked. They all looked confused. I waved my hand weakly in the air; I was in no condition to explain. "Ask Fuko. Where's Kusukusu?"

Amu wordlessly handed me my chara's egg, still sealed, as she watched me cup it in my hands and examine it.

Three-quarters.

I set her egg on the nightstand beside the bed I was lying on, sighing. "Seriously, I can't explain. Go ask Fuko."

"How?" Kukai asked, raising an eyebrow. I shrugged, turning over and closing my eyes.

"Like this!"

Oh god. That voice…

"Fuko, my gosh, what are you doing here?" I asked, immediately sitting up as I heard the stone wall open and Fuko skipped in, smiling innocently as if she hadn't kidnapped us and wasn't planning to use us in a freaky experiment.

Fuko giggled, clapping her hands. "To answer your questions, of course! How are you, Rima? The Influence is almost completely done, isn't it?"

I plastered on a fake smile, nodding and trying to be energetic. "I don't know, Fuko-chan! Since you're so smart, why don't you tell us? Please, best friend?"

Amu gave me a look that plainly said, "what the fuck." I shot her a warning glance, and immediately Amu turned to face Fuko, smiling shyly and tilting her head.

"Hey, Fuko. I guess we're not really friends yet, but I just want you to know that we have no grudge against you! Treat us all like close friends, and we'll do the same. Could you tell us about the Influence?" Amu asked, sparkle-attacking Fuko. She didn't seem affected, though, only being her usual self and laughing.

She danced into our room, five agents surrounding her in case we tried anything. Kukai's jaw clenched, but he forced himself to look pleasant. Utau was outright glaring, so I stood in front of her in hopes that I was at least tall enough to cover her mouth, which was probably best described as snarling.

Ugh, it sucks being short, because I could clearly see Ikuto signaling across the room, telling Utau to stop looking like a grizzly bear.

Utau took a deep breath, wiping the scowl off her face. Fuko beckoned us all closer, sitting on the floor as we gathered cautiously in a circle around her, our line of sight broken by the legs of the agents.

I stayed in my bed, since I already knew everything. Fuko told them the exact same thing she had told me, but she added on a bit at the end.

"Rima's almost done with the Influence, and when she's almost about to go through the fourth pain, we'll put you into the experiment. Nagihiko has developed halfway through from being around her, and Hinamori Amu is not far behind. She'll probably be experiencing the first pain soon. Shortly after, Yuiki Yaya, Hoshina Utau, Souma Kukai, Tsukiyomi Ikuto, and Sanjou Kairi will start to undergo the Influence."

"Today's the prequel to the experiment. Rima has approximately twenty-four hours before she's almost done, so we have to start the experiment before then. Until then, we'll put you all under a small experiment to see how well you'll work with…technology."

She got up and flitted out the door faster than we could react, skipping down the hallway as the stone door started sliding shut. Fuko smiled at us, waving goodbye before turning around and disappearing out of view.

Then, just before the door slid completely shut, somebody stepped in.

Ochre eyes. Purple hair. Creamy, pale skin, and a slender figure, lashes long and full. A red ribbon tied up that long, silky hair, and perfect lips smiled, pink and small.

Nagihiko bowed, waving.

* * *

"Wha-at?" Amu stammered, finally getting out a word. My head whipped backwards to where Nagihiko was sitting in our circle, looking just as stunned.

Wait.

But.

There are two of them?

Huh?

Haaa?

Something's weird here. Wasn't Nagihiko supposed to be Nadeshiko? Isn't that his secret?

HUUUUUUH?

The two identical people locked eyes, and Nagihiko got up, hesitantly walking over, but steadily nearing her as if hypnotized.

"Nadeshiko?" He choked out, looking as though he was being strangled. She/He/It smiled pleasantly, reaching out a hand and caressing Nagi's cheek carefully with one fingertip. Nagi didn't move, looking shocked.

And then she/he/it slapped him.

Stunned silence followed.

"Hmm. Human skin feels strange. It stings. Is this a normal way of greeting?" Nagihiko #2 asked. He/she/its voice was slightly higher pitched than Nagihiko's, and carried a more feminine quality.

"No!" Amu cried, wringing her hands and looking as though she was freaking out. Actually, I think we all were, on the inside. We were just too shocked to say anything. "You don't slap people!"

Nagihiko #2 furrowed his/her/its eyebrows. "You don't? Fuko told me that was how humans greeted each other. It isn't?"

"No…" Utau trailed, dumbfounded. "Why are you talking like you're not human?"

Nagihiko #2 giggled. "I'm not. I'm a robot."

His/her/its voice, His/her/its movements, and everything about Him/her/it were so much like Nagihiko that it was unnerving.

"This is SO weird." Kukai said, rubbing his eyes. "I'm not going crazy, am I?"

Amu didn't seem like she wanted to accept this reality. "Nagi? Why is Nade-chan here? I thought she was in Europe."

Nagihiko rubbed his cheek, wincing, but probably not from pain. Rather, from the confession he had to make.

"I'm sorry, Amu-chan. But there is no Nadeshiko. There's only me, and there's only ever been me. I was pretending to be Nadeshiko in order to study dance better. I'm so sorry for lying."

Amu blinked.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA A-?!"

She screeched, and everybody cringed away. Nagihiko #2 frowned.

"What are you talking about, Nagi-kun? There is a Nadeshiko. Or at least, there is now. I'm Nadeshiko Fujisaki. Call me Nade." Nagihiko #2-or rather, 'Nadeshiko' said, nodding and smiling.

Nagihiko stared at her.

Nadeshiko skipped into our circle, plopping down on the floor. "Fuko said that since I'm a robot, I don't have any emotions. But she said that I should play with you guys to be more human-like. She says it can advance technology."

"Are you sure you're a robot?" Kairi asked, his scientific mind probably blown. "I mean, you act very human-like. I've never heard of a robot like this before."

Nadeshiko smiled. "Of course. 'Cause Fuko keeps me secret, that's why. I'm the first model, the prototype."

"Why do you look like Nagi?" I blurted, still shocked. She shrugged. "Fuko can change my appearance as often as she wants. That part's not hard. She thought that Nagihiko would look cute as a girl, so last night she did some research and found out about Nadeshiko."

"But why do you act like him, too?" Utau asked suspiciously, crossing her arms. Nadeshiko smiled.

"I don't act completely like him. Some of my mannerisms are alike because they tweaked my program a bit from what they've seen of Nagi. But I'm a learning robot, so my "personality" will change according to what I'm influenced by."

Everybody let that sink in for a second before questions started flying.

"Why do you listen to Fuko, anyways?"

"Yeah, and do you have lasers in your eyes?"

"Kukai, shut up."

"A-ano, would you die if you got dunked in water?"

"Tadase, that's the lamest question ever."

"Onii-san!"

Nadeshiko smiled, unfazed. "I listen to Fuko because she made me. I listen to her because I have to. It's in my program to listen to her. I do have lasers, want to see?"

"NO!"

"Oh, well then. I won't die if I get dunked in water, because a coating that's somewhat like human skin protects me. That was a lame question. Onii-san, you're handsome."

"This robot is messed up." Amu stated, rolling her eyes. "You may look like Nade, but you're not her."

"Nope!" Nadeshiko agreed. "I'm better."

"Conceited much?" I asked, voice scathing as I spoke for the first time. I had many reasons to hate this robot. First of all, she looked exactly like Nadeshiko, Amu's first best friend. Second, she was being conceited. Third, Fuko had made her, so she was probably evil.

"Amu has high standards for a best friend. And if Nade was good enough for her, then she must be amazing. You're nowhere near her, or Nagi for that matter." I spat out, eyeing the robot distrustfully. Nagi smiled.

Nadeshiko tilted her head, looking confused. Then, she gracefully got up, marched over, and slapped me. "Hello, Rima Mashiro. Nice to meet you."

I held my throbbing cheek in shock, staring at the much taller robot. Everyone seemed to be collectively holding his or her breath, watching intently as I started to glare.

"Why. You. Little. Ugh-" I launched forward, reading to slap the robot and see how she liked it.

Nagi easily lifted me off the ground from behind. "Rima-chan, calm down. It's not worth it."

"Let me go!" I struggled futilely, trying to pull away Nagi's arms. But he held tight, still holding me in the air so that my legs were swinging. Stupid tall people!

"Do you… do you have a chara?" Amu asked, hesitantly stepping forward towards Nadeshiko. She shook her head.

"I can't, obviously. I'm a robot. I have no feelings or emotions, and I have no dreams. I could never produce a Shugo Chara. In a way, I am simply a walking, talking computer." She explained, no regret in her tone. She didn't seem to feel sorry for herself at all.

I stopped struggling.

How sad that must be, to be a robot. Not having anything to look forward to, not being able to have feelings, not even knowing what happiness was. Looking at Nadeshiko's perfectly emotionless eyes, knowing that she didn't care because she couldn't, I felt bad for the robot.

"Nagi, let me go." I said quietly, hanging limply in his arms. He set me down gently, and I slowly approached Nadeshiko again.

"What does Fuko want you to do with us for her little test?" I asked suspiciously. Nadeshiko shrugged.

"I don't really know. But if I had to make a guess, based on statistical probabilities, she wants to know how well I can adapt to being around people. She also wants me to gather information on you, data that she can use in the experiment." Nadeshiko said, before sitting down again. "So far… I'm not impressed."

I gritted my teeth and reminded myself that Nadeshiko wasn't trying to piss me off; this was just how she was programmed.

"So what would it take to impress you?" I asked, crossing my arms. Nadeshiko shrugged again.

"You're not trying to impress me. You want to impress Fuko. And something that would her is if you were able to use your Influence. But do you know what it is?" Nadeshiko asked, her blank stare burning into my own eyes. I turned away, unnerved.

"Amu. I need to talk to you." I murmured quietly. I heard Amu get up after me, and I led her into the bathroom before closing the door.

"Rima, what is it?" She asked, looking confused and concerned. I took a deep breath.

"I think I know what my power is. But I can't let Fuko find out, or I could die." I blinked, trying to figure out exactly how to word it.

"It was after the first pain. Mom was baking cookies because Dad was out of town and she was all happy about it, but she went to take a shower during the time when the cookies were done. I didn't want them to burn, so I took them out of the oven."

"But I forgot to wear the mitts, and my hand touched the oven rack when it was still hot. The weird thing is, though, it didn't feel hot at all. And I laid my entire hand in the hot oven, and it came out perfectly fine."

"And this part sounds really stupid, but I thought something was really wrong. I lit a candle and touched the flame. First with my finger. Then with my palm. Then, I grabbed the entire flame with my hand. And every time, my hand was fine."

"And then you know how I just experienced the third pain? My entire body felt hot then. Like there was fire running through me, and my palms felt really warm. So…"

I trailed off. Amu had been listening intently the entire time, gazing me the tiled floor solemnly. She looked up at me.

"So you think your power is being fire-resistant?" she questioned. I shook my head.

"That's what I thought, too. But then Fuko said that the power doesn't fully manifest until all four pains are over with, so my entire power couldn't just be the first time. There must be more to it." I held out my palm.

"And I think I know what it is."

Sparks danced across my palm for an instant, and Amu gasped. I felt shocked (no pun intended) myself, as I watched my fingers light the spark again. It was a warm orange electricity, arching across my palm but not yet fire.

"Oh my god!" Amu let out a strangled whisper. "I didn't know it was possible! I didn't even believe Fuko…"

I swallowed. "I know. I don't even know how I'm doing this, it just comes naturally. And it scares me, because I don't what Fuko might do if she ever found out."

"_I_ know."

Our heads whipped towards the bathroom door, where Nadeshiko was lazily leaning against the doorframe, clapping sarcastically. She smiled evilly.

"Congratulations, Rima. You're an elemental."

* * *

**OOHHHHHH. I actually wasn't originally planning on having Rima reveal her power in this chapter, but what the heck. And I'm SOOOO SOOO sorry for not updating earlier ): I just haven't had time this week. Next week will hopefully go better, though. **

**Thank you very much if you are still reading, and I love you all!**

**Pretty please with Rima and Nagi on top, leave a review? It encourages me that people are still reading. **

~Sea-chan


	12. Flaw 11: Human Relations

Chapter 11~ Flaw #11~ Human Relations

Amu and I acted simultaneously, diving for Nadeshiko and pining her to the ground as she writhed in surprise.

"Mmph!" She let out a muffled noise of dissent, but Amu merely readjusted her position and pinned down her legs and stomach, while I leaned on her arms and shoulder, covering her mouth. I crouched down so that my golden eyes were level with her ochre ones.

"Listen, Nadeshiko. Don't. Tell. Fuko." I hissed, smacking her on the head when she tried to bite me. She didn't appear hurt (she was a robot after all) but her movements were delayed.

"Ouch!" Amu cried, jumping backwards. I looked back, about to ask what was wrong when I felt it myself. Blue electricity arched across Nadeshiko's body, searing into my skin. I leapt back, clenching my teeth in pain.

Nadeshiko got up. "Fuko will already know. The moment you decided to reveal your power, Fuko found out. I am not here to spy. I am not here to relay information. If I was merely here for that purpose, Fuko would have made me a video camera."

"Then what the hell are you here for?" Amu spat, rubbing her hands and arms. Nadeshiko cocked her head, assuming a confused expression.

She didn't answer for several seconds. Then, she replied, "I can't tell you, I'm afraid."

A spark ignited on my hand out of irritation. I extinguished it immediately, remembering what Nadeshiko had just said about Fuko knowing. I stood up and brushed myself off, taking a deep breath and ignoring Nadeshiko's unnerving stare.

"I guess we have no choice." Amu said reluctantly, probably thinking the same thing I was. I nodded.

"Hey, everybody? We have a problem."

* * *

"So, remind me again, what happened?" Kukai asked dubiously, staring at the tied-up and gagged Nadeshiko. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms.

"We already told the story like five times." I snapped. He shook his head disbelievingly.

"I know, but it's just so weird. I mean, your hands are on fire and we just beat up and bound a girl. That's sort of wrong."

"No, it's isn't." Utau disagreed, cracking her knuckles. "She's a robot."

Nagihiko laughed nervously. "Kukai's got a point. What does this solve? I mean, Fuko already knows, doesn't she?" He seemed to be disturbed, looking at his "twin" all tied up.

Amu shrugged. "Who knows, who cares? All I know is that she's a bitch and deserves to be tied up." I guess Amu was still bitter about Nadeshiko not being real and the fake Nadeshiko shocking her with electricity. I didn't really blame her, though. After all, they're not the ones who got electrocuted.

The stone wall gave a creak and everybody whipped around.

Kukai stood protectively in front of Utau, and I instinctively jumped behind Amu, who was trying to be tough but in actuality shaking. Yaya shrieked and dove under a bed, while Kairi hefted a thick dictionary. (He was reading that?)

Nagihiko stood in front of all of us, wary and ready to defend us. Ikuto crouched next to him, glaring. Tadase stood in front of Amu, arms out. She looked like she wanted to faint, but couldn't figure out how to.

The door opened wider, and suddenly, a blinding white flash of light caused us to recoil and fall to the floor, rubbing our eyes.

When our vision recovered, the door was once again closed, and there were five suitcases in front of the door.

Utau was the first to react. She got up swiftly, wobbling over to the suitcases and picking up pieces of paper lying on top.

"Plane tickets." She informed us somberly. "We're going to America."

"Even Nade?" Yaya asked disbelievingly. Utau nodded, before gingerly setting the tickets down like they might explode. Actually, knowing Fuko, that was a possibility.

Amu cracked open a suitcase. It was full of girl clothes, sizes that would fit Amu and Utau. I supposed that was theirs. Another suitcase had clothes that would most likely me for Yaya and I, while the others had clothes for the guys. One suitcase was for Kairi and Tadase, the slim boys, while the other one was for Kukai and Ikuto, the tall boys.

But there was none for the…twin things.

I'm sorry. I couldn't resist. But in all seriousness, there was nothing for Nagihiko or Nadeshiko. Nagihiko fluidly checked behind the suitcases, finding a duffel bag that contained enough clothing for him. Still, there was nothing for Nadeshiko. We all glanced at her, wondering if Fuko was abandoning her.

"I don't require clothing." Nadeshiko replied to our thoughts off-handedly. "I'm a robot."

With a singe and a terrible smell wafting in the air, she burned off the bed sheets we had tied her up with. Miraculously, the clothes she was wearing were fine. My guess was that they were specially "Nadeshiko-made".

The door suddenly whammed open with a huge force, causing all of us to either shriek, jump back, jump into someone's arms, throw a dictionary, cringe, cower, hide under a bed, or in my case, stay perfectly still from shock.

"FUKOOOOOOOOO HAS ARRIVED!" The psychotic teen bellowed out, arms dramatically spread as if she was the one who had slammed open the door. Can you even slam open a door? Whatever, that wasn't exactly relevant right now.

"You guys ready to leave this place?" She asked in a tone reminiscent of a game show host. She was so into it, even donning a sundress and sunglasses as well as some kind of designer bag. I wondered briefly if this was all some kind of strange prank.

But as Nadeshiko gracefully stepped forward and kneeled at Fuko's feet, I knew it wasn't. Fuko was only an illusion. The girl behind her was a monster.

"…Yay." Ikuto replied sarcastically. The rest of us nodded in mute, mocking silence. Fuko remained unfazed, only turning around and beckoning.

"Come on, hurry, or we'll miss the flight! Oh, and don't forget the suitcases. Move your butts, or I'll lock you all in solitary confinement again!"

Crazy woman.

But the threat was enough to get us scrambling, pulling the suitcases along and stumbling after Fuko, who strode confidently with Nadeshiko at her heel like an emotionless puppy.

We went down several corridors, all identical looking, and yet Fuko seemed to know exactly where she was going. As a door came into view at the end of a hallway, random agents surrounded us and blindfolded each one of us, albeit with a lot of screaming, kicking, biting, and scratching. But nonetheless we were hauled off, stumbling around blindly, and led along some intricate path our feet could never recreate.

It was rather sickening, all in all.

They shoved us into a limo and ripped off our blindfolds as we went.

"Get in the car!" Fuko screamed cheerfully, gleefully kicking Kukai's butt into the limo since he was the last one. I had a feeling that was her payback for Kukai trying to break her neck. Utau glared.

Fuko danced towards the front of the car and got in, separated from us by several layers of glass. We all stared at the back of her head as she started the ignition.

"Oh god, is she going to DRIVE?" Amu's voice was hysterical. The rest of us were freaking out, too, some of us quietly, and some of us not so quietly.

"Yaya doesn't want to die!" Yaya wailed as Fuko hit the gas pedal, and we sped off at a dangerously high speed. Yaya's voice choked in her throat and her eyes practically bugged out as inertia took effect.

"Seatbelts!" Nagihiko shouted, and all of us fumbled for some kind of lifeline.

"Isn't this fun?" Fuko asked, her voice projecting over the car radio. "I'll put the windows down!"

The windows rolled down, but we were going so fast the landscape was only a blur. The wind pelted in viciously, and I cringed, my huge locks whipped around mercilessly. Oh. My. God. My hair! I tried desperately to smooth it down, but to no avail. My ringlets were having some kind of party in the air, and my black headband got torn off and went flying out the window. I snatched at empty air, gazing frustratingly at the hairband lying on the road behind us.

Amu was okay, since her hair was shorter. But since she was such a freak-out about her hair, she started shrieking and cowered under the seat to avoid the wind.

Utau didn't exactly have it easy, either; since her huge pigtails were being blown around and pulling her head weight this way and that. But Nagihiko had it worst of all. My hair was just as long as his, but it usually behaved by staying in separated locks. His was wild and straight, strands blowing into each other and performing complicated knots. He was trying to get it out of his face, since his violet hair was working its way into his mouth and eyes.

The other guys all looked like they were riding racecars or something, their hair ruffled by the wind. Lucky them.

Fuko then proceeded to blast music at super loud volumes through the radio.

Damn! I liked that song! Now it was going to be forever ruined by this memory.

And of course, Fuko just had to stop abruptly at a red light. I mean, the girl can kidnap nine innocent teenagers, and yet she won't run the red? Seriously? All of us bolted forward, losing our grip on the seatbelts we had yet to put on. Kukai hit his head on an armrest and passed out cold.

Utau probably wasn't far behind, looking extremely carsick. Ikuto looked almost as nauseous, since cats probably weren't used to this kind of stuff. Kairi rubbed his head, as if he had a migraine. Amu was still under the seats, Yaya was wailing her head off, and Nagihiko was combing his hair unsuccessfully. I stayed where I was, taking deep breaths and trying to calm down. I was pretty sure Tadase had died, since he hadn't said a word.

"ISN'T THIS FUN?!" Fuko screamed at us gleefully again from her seat up front. Nadeshiko was in the passenger seat, and I could swear I saw her turn around and smirk at us.

"NO!" We all screamed back as best we could. Fuko sped up even more.

"At this rate, we'll die before we get to the airport!" Kairi cried. The car shot over a speed bump as we went into the circling path around the airport, and my leg kicked something. I looked down and saw my foot embedded in Tadase's corn silk locks. He had fainted, evidently.

Finally, the terrifying ride was at an end, braking so abruptly we almost flew past the seats. I almost had a heart attack, and I was pretty sure Amu _did_ have one.

"We're here!" Fuko announced cheerfully, opening her car door and getting out perfectly fine. Nadeshiko followed suit. There weren't any agents, but I was pretty sure Nadeshiko was protection enough for Fuko.

The rest of us sat still for a moment, trying hard not to throw up, pass out, or die from dizziness. Fuko didn't give us any time, though, yanking open the door so that our unruly pile tumbled out onto the asphalt. She kicked Tadase and Kukai out of the car with her foot, since they were both out cold.

"Hey, Amu?" I panted, nudging dizzy Amu's head. She groaned.

"What?" She whispered back hoarsely, running her fingers through her hair.

"How is Fuko going to get us past customs? Won't they be able to tell that Fuko kidnapped us?" I asked, glancing worriedly towards Nadeshiko, who was standing threateningly above us. I lowered my voice.

"Also, Nadeshiko's a robot. How is she going to get on a flight? And anyways, couldn't we just tell the security there that Fuko kidnapped all of us? They'd probably believe us if there's so many of us." I contemplated the possibilities, sitting patiently and waiting for my headache to disappear.

I gave a start as a hand landed on my shoulder. I turned to stare into Fuko's ice blue eyes, large and friendly.

"Oh hon, don't worry. I'm the CEO of Easter. No one's going to question me, and besides, we're flying a private jet." Fuko "reassured" me.

"Then why are we at an airport?!" Utau screeched, extremely pissed off. Fuko shrugged.

"I don't know. It's not my job to know this stuff. I just get to have my fun and make extremely decisions that I probably shouldn't." She skipped away to talk to Nadeshiko.

All of us sweat dropped, exasperated. "She even admits it." Ikuto said incredulously. "At least when Gozen was head of Easter, he didn't admit that he had no business being a CEO. This just makes Fuko shady."

"She was already shady." Kukai grumbled, rubbing the huge bump on his forehead. He had woken up, but Tadase hadn't. Utau rushed over to him and hugged him, gently rubbing his head. Kukai coughed, but hugged her back.

"Come on, slow pokes, let's go!" Fuko called, waving impatiently. I wondered if we could make a run for it now.

"And don't run, or I'll make Nadeshiko hunt you down and microwave your brains!" She added, reading my mind. Oh my gosh, it would be scary if she really could.

Kairi and Ikuto picked up Tadase, and Yaya clung onto Nagihiko and cried. I felt a slight twinge of jealously but brushed it away as I reminded myself that Yaya only viewed Nagihiko as an older brother.

"Rima, should we follow her?" Amu muttered, worried. I nodded, taking her hand as we supported each other as we followed Fuko.

When we finally got to the airfield and all that, I was extremely tired. After boarding, I fell into the nearest seat, strapped myself in, and fell asleep.

* * *

"Rima…can I talk to you?"

I glanced up, feeling my heart skip a beat as I saw Nagihiko. I nodded immediately, hoping that I wasn't blushing.

"Okay."

He smiled gently, holding his hand to me. I took it and he helped me stand up. He didn't let go until a few seconds later, blushing slightly as he turned around and cleared his throat.

"Want to take a walk?" He asked, waiting politely for an answer. I smiled slightly.

"Okay."

Ugh. I was so stupid. Was "okay" all I could say? As Nagi and I walked along some path that I wasn't even paying attention to, I cursed at myself mentally for being awkward.

"I'm-"

"You know-"

We both started at the same time, and stopped. Nagi laughed nervously. He gestured for me to continue, and I blushed again, embarrassed.

"I'm not really good at talking to people. All my life, people have admired me for my ice queen image. But inside, that's not really who I am. And if what you have to say relates to my outer character, I'm sorry. I can't accept anything you have to say if it's not about who I really am." I felt a tear almost slip out. It was true, anyways. If Nagi did actually like me, which I doubted, I didn't want to hear it first, only to have my hopes dashed when I found out he only liked my outer character.

Nagihiko laughed.

"You're such an awkward person, Rima-chan." He said affectionately, mussing up my hair. I knocked his hand away gently, fake-pouting. He smiled, leaning down so his eyes were level with mine.

"But that's what I like. You're terrible at human relations, you know? And you're obnoxious, over-the-top when it comes to comedy, uncaring, harsh, and it takes a lot to please you. But you're also sweet, dense, confused, awkward, and funny. You're really so amazing on the inside, even if you do have a lot of flaws. But Rima…even if you have all these imperfections…

…I love you anyways."

Tears streamed down my face from shock and joy. Nagi leaned in, eyes closed, and I closed my own eyes, close to bliss.

I jolted awake, the fuzzy details of the airplane coming into focus.

_Damn. It was a dream._

I tucked myself into my signature ball, lifting my head.

"Rima, you're awake?" A familiar voice said next to my ear. I jumped, and my cheeks burned with embarrassment as I realized it was Nagi. I also realized that I had lifted my head from his direction, which meant…

"That's good. My shoulder was getting kind of tired." Nagi laughed, a joking expression on my face. His smile died away as I remained frozen, staring.

Did I fall asleep on Nagi's shoulder? Did I really? Oh god, I talked in my sleep! What if he heard me?

"Did I say anything in my sleep?" I asked, voice high and hysterical. He tapped his chin thoughtfully.

"Well, you mumbled some stuff, but you didn't really talk clearly. I couldn't really tell what you were saying. I did hear you say something about human relations, though. What were you dreaming about?" He asked curiously.

"Zombies taking over the earth." I blurted out the first thing that came to mind, and then burrowed back into my ball as I realized how stupid that sounded. But to my relief, I heard Nagi laughing. He thought I was joking.

"Well, you only fell asleep for about an hour. There's still like eleven hours left of the flight. There's not much we can do on this airplane, but at least Fuko provided us with some entertainment. And a hairbrush." He grunted, yanking a brush through his tangled violet hair. I almost laughed, but I didn't want to be rude.

"Want some help? I'm a girl, after all." I said, trying to regain some of my snarky attitude. Nagihiko rolled his eyes.

"Thanks, but it's not necessary. I may not be a girl, but I've had long hair since I was young. I know how to take care of it." He explained, continuing to painfully brush his hair. I mentally smacked myself. Of course, he would know! Rima, you idiot!

He stopped brushing and smiled kindly at me. "Really, Rima, it's fine. You can go back to sleep if you want."

I nodded, resting my head on the window instead of Nagi's shoulder. I wished that I could, but that would be weird since I didn't know if he liked me or not.

"IKUTO-NIISAN, DON'T TOUCH IT! IT MIGHT HAVE A BOMB!"

_Crash._

"Crap. Sorry, Utau. I'll clean that up."

"No, it's fine. You're still recovering. Kukai, go sleep. Onii-san, help me with this coffee."

"EWWWW! WHAT IS THIS LIQUID? YAYA DOESN'T LIKE IT!"

"Ace, calm down!"

"Getting Yaya to calm down is impossible, Kairi!"

"Like you should be talking, Amu-chan. You're practically spilling Sprite everywhere. Maybe you should just come lay down with me."

"No, you pervert cat!"

"You heard her, Ikuto! Leave Amu alone!"

"Geez, Kiddy King, getting possessive, are we?"

Apparently, sleep wasn't going to be possible.

* * *

**Ohmygosh, sorry for not updating for so long. But school's been really busy lately, so updates might be even more sporadic than usual. I hope you guys like this chapter, even though the Rimahiko in it was kind of artificial. But things are gonna start heating up! (Even more, that is.) **

**I'll give you a dumpling if you give me a review. **

**Ciao for now!**


	13. Flaw 12: Am I Japanese?

**WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS BREAKING OF THE FOURTH WALL. OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. BASICALLY, THEY ALL ADMIT THEY'RE ANIME CHARACTERS. IF YOU DON'T LIKE THAT SORT OF THING, SKIP THIS CHAPTER. There's nothing important, anyways. It's just crack with a slightly angsty ending. Nothing of value. Enjoy(:**

* * *

Chapter 12~ Flaw #12~ Am I Japanese?

"FINALLY!" I screamed, bolting off the ramp as fast as I possibly could without tripping and falling and dying. That had probably been the worst twelve hours I had ever spent with my friends, and I seriously considered tying them up at one point. Nagi agreed with me, but we managed to stare everybody down with glares, so that was that.

"Yay!" Yaya cheered, twirling cheerfully down the ramp. "We're in Amurica!"

"_America, _Yaya. Not Amurica." Kairi corrected, stepping down and pushing up his glasses to make himself look smarter. Ikuto coolly walked out with Amu in tow, who was flailing and protesting. Tadase walked behind them, but seemed rather resigned. Utau and Kukai both yawned tiredly as they stumbled off. I couldn't blame them, since they were the ones keeping order most of the time (even though it just led to more chaos.) Still, they got points for trying.

And then the twins (are they twins? That just seems wrong) walked down the ramp together, and I was surprised to see Nagi actually talking to Nadeshiko. But then I caught the look in his eyes, the one that signaled that he was only acting. I smirked, wondering what information he might've gotten out of her.

"Guys, are you looking at this?" Amu asked, incredulous. I turned around, and my mouth literally hung open.

A vast expense of sandy was beneath our feet. It was almost white and silky, the fine grains slipping through my fingers and warmed slightly by the sun. Speaking of which, it was sunny, and Christmas had just passed…so that was kind of weird.

The sun warmed our faces and arms, and caused the blue water to sparkle and change into different hues. Huge trees towered above us-I think they were palms? They had thick, brown trunks, and huge leaves that spiked out.

I kicked off my flats, digging my feet into the sand and letting a smile slip out. I could see the others doing the same, all scooping up the sand and marveling at how pretty the beach was.

"Where are we?" I asked, and I heard the others echoing my curiosity. Fuko sighed contentedly; gazing up at the sun while her sundress flowed in the slight, comfy, breeze.

"LA, of course." She responded brightly. I blinked.

"LA? Like… Los Angeles? In California?"

She confirmed this by twirling around and screaming, "Cali, baby!"

I wished our captor was someone less mentally unstable.

* * *

"This is a nice hotel." Kairi commented. Everyone sort of looked around and nodded, while Fuko shot him a "no dip, Sherlock" look. By now I had kind of figured out that Fuko is what you would call, "high maintenance". Even towards her captives, she made sure that our rooms were comfy and presentable. I mean, pfft, you wouldn't want to have bad looking science experiments.

Well, evidently not, because as soon as we checked into Easter's private huge suite, Fuko threw our bags on the floor and demanded we go shopping with her.

Are we captives, science experiments, slaves, stowaways, or friends?

I see no difference with Fuko.

* * *

"This place is like…Amu-world." I said, looking around the mall. We were in some kind of fancy store, in some kind of fancy mall, on some kind of beautiful, fancy avenue. And this place was, indeed, Amu-world, because Amu was practically drooling over all the clothes.

They did have really cute clothes, but one look at the price tag freaked me out. The shirt was fifty American dollars! How much yen was that?

Wait. I'm confused. If I'm thinking in English, then… What the heck? I thought I was Japanese.

I poked Amu and managed to get her attention long enough to ask her.

"Hey, Amu, we're Japanese, right?"

She nodded.

"Then why are we talking in English?"

A lightning bolt suddenly struck Amu (not a literal one, but close enough) and she fell to the ground, mind blown.

Then she got up and pointed at me.

"I thought you were European."

Yaya popped up behind me. "Yeah, Rima-tan, no one in Japan has huge wavy blonde hair like you do, unless it's fake. But yours isn't. And you're even shorter than Japanese people."

I threw my hands up. "Look at Amu's hair and then tell me that!"

By then, the rest of the gang had rushed up and all stared at Amu, who had recovered from her mind-blowing lightning bolt. She touched her hair protectively.

"It's natural!" She defended herself.

"It can't be." Kukai said, shaking her head. Amu went to go cry in the corner over her artificial yet not artificial hair. Ikuto followed her, leaving the rest of us to debate about this.

"Well, if you think about it, we're all speaking English." Utau considered. "Besides, I do know English, since I'm an idol." Kukai rolled his eyes.

"Back to Rima," Nagi interrupted. "Isn't she French?"

"Am I?"

"Are you?"

I threw my hands up. "Then why do I know Japanese?"

"You don't." Kairi pointed out. "Neither do we, actually, 'cause we're all talking in English."

"Screw you!" I shot at him, because he was being logical and it totally confused me even more because none of this was logical.

Kairi waved his hand. "Blame the author."

"No, we can't blame Author-san, since Peach-pitt is the one that made us." Tadase said helpfully. Yaya started looking for a weapon to hit Peach-pitt with.

"Wait, in the anime we all speak Japanese, but since the author doesn't know Japanese, this fan fiction is in English. And even if she did, a bunch of people in the Shugo Chara fandom wouldn't understand it. So technically, it IS Author-san's fault." Nadeshiko inserted, randomly appearing out of nowhere. Probably to keep tabs on us.

"Go away!" Utau shooed her. "You're not even real! You're supposed to be Nagi!"

Fuko danced over to us, laden with shopping bags. Yaya latched on to her arm viciously.

"Fuko, explain!" She demanded. I shook my head.

"No, wait! Fuko isn't even a canon character!" I accused, hands on my hips. "She's got no right to do this!"

"Wait…" Kukai started. "Author-san made up Fuko, so technically it's all Author-san's fault that we got kidnapped.

(_cue evil cackle from Sea-chan through her laptop_)

"Stop!" I waved my arms frantically. "Let's get back on topic, please! Are we Japanese or what?"

I pointed accusingly at each of them in turn. "Nagi has purple hair, Tadase's blonde, Kairi's green-haired, Ikuto has blue hair, Utau's also blonde, Yaya and Kukai are both brunettes, Amu's hair is PINK, for god's sake, Nadeshiko's purple-haired too, but she's a robot so she doesn't really count, and I'm blonde and English-looking." I threw my hands in the air.

"If you think about it, none of us are noirettes, (I had been dying to use that word) which is the typical hair color for Japanese people! So what the hell are we?"

"Stooooop…" Amu moaned. "You're destroying my self-esteem and logic. Also, I can't stand any more lightning bolts. My mind is beyond blown."

I ignored her and rushed up to a store assistant to check. I thrust a shirt at him.

"How much is this?" I demanded, anticipating his reaction. He stared at me, confused, and looked at the clothing. I stared.

"Grr, he doesn't understand me!" I cried.

He shook his head. "No, I understand you, but… you have an accent. It's…it's a Japanese accent? I mean it's not very evident, but I thought you were French or English…"

I had…I had an accent? I had…I had a Japanese accent on the English that I wasn't supposed to know?

Fuck this world!

"I quit!" I declared, throwing my stuff down and running out of the store, only to be held back by Nadeshiko.

"Let me go!" I wailed, sobbing fake crocodile tears. "I have no faith in humanity anymore!"

"Rima, calm down. It's just a matter of what language we speak." Nagi said, sweatdropping. I stopped struggling and turned around, frantically pointing an accusatory finger.

"No! You don't understand! IT JUST MAKES NO SENSE!" I cried, waving my arms again. Nadeshiko zapped me in the side and I fell to the ground, crying like Yaya when she didn't get candy.

"Don't be racist, Mashiro-san." Kairi took off his glasses and polished them. I swear he could see without them, and that he just wore them for show.

My jaw dropped open. "I am not being racist!"

"Yes, you are." Amu argued, petting her hair. "Or at least, hair-ist." I turned to shoot her a pitiful look.

"Nuh-uh!"

Kukai scratched his head sheepishly. "Well, Rima, if you really think about it, you kind of are being racist. You-"

"Shut up!"

Utau rolled her eyes. "Send me a postcard from Egypt, will you?"

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Because you're in denial."

"I don't get it." I claimed, clinging on to a clothing rack when Nadeshiko tried to drag me away to Fuko.

She sighed. "Denial, the Nile? Like the river?"

Processing…

One…

Two…

Three…

"OH! I GET IT NOW!"

"Well done, Rima-chan." Tadase applauded meekly. I shot him a glare.

"ARE YOU BEING SARCASTIC WITH ME?!"

"No ma'am!" Tadase shrieked. I huffed, crossing my arms and nodding in satisfaction, only to be taken advantage of as Nadeshiko dragged me away.

"Stop." I monotonously ordered as Nadeshiko pretty much slung my small frame over her shoulder and waltzed robotically away. She ignored me.

Fuko was digging through bins and bins of clothes when Nadeshiko dumped me into the bin right in front of Fuko. She squealed in delight while I tried to scramble away, only to slip in the pile of clothing.

The next hour consisted of being dragged various places and being 'dressed up' (it was more like torture. I literally have bruises.) I was exhausted by the time Nadeshiko dragged Amu over for her turn. Amu normally loved shopping, but she looked terrified of shopping Fuko-style. She has good reason.

"Good luck, rosette." I said sarcastically, but it came out sort of flat because I was so tired. I didn't even know what I was wearing now, since between about a dozen outfits, my eyes had gotten messed up and I couldn't tell colors apart anymore.

I drifted back to the others.

"Awwwwww, Rima-tan, you look adorable!" Yaya squealed. I tried to glare, but instead I mumbled a feeble disagreement.

Nagi snickered. "Denial." He high-fived Utau, who also smirked.

"No!" I protested, blushing.

"Uh, yes."

"Shut up."

* * *

"Waaah!" Yaya cried, landing on the hotel bed. "Yaya's tired!"

"That makes the rest of us SUPER tired, because you have like unlimited energy." Amu grumbled, landing on the bed with an 'oomph'. I climbed on instead of leaping, but got stuck between the sheets. I cursed under my breath.

Our hotel door flew open and Nadeshiko walked in, claiming the last bed. We raised our eyebrows at each other as Nadeshiko sat down.

"Are you here to watch us?" I asked sarcastically, throwing on a nightgown and taking my ribbon out of my hair. Amu did the same, unclipping her bangs and changing into pajamas.

She didn't respond, and I almost felt bad for being harsh. Then, I reminded myself that she was a robot and that she didn't care. Yaya obviously couldn't get that through her head though, because she looked sympathetically at Nadeshiko. Nade was sitting on the only bed on the other side of the room, so it seems like all three of us were against her.

Well, we _were_, but you know what I mean. Sitting there by herself, she looked almost…lonely.

I ignored the sensation of guilt in my gut. Nadeshiko was not to be trusted, or sympathized with. She was a robot, an enemy, and an evil-purple head.

But I remembered how I felt, ignored and forgotten by my parents, by everyone, by people who moved on without me, who carried on without me, who didn't care about me.

I buried my face in the pillow, trying to fall asleep so I would stop feeling bad.

"Tomorrow is your first assessment."

Nadeshiko had spoken, sounding professionally detached.

I felt my hope deflate. Somewhere inside, I had wondered if it was all a joke, wondered if nothing would actually happen to us. But it was real, all too real. Suddenly I felt myself envying Nadeshiko. She was a robot. She didn't have to care. She had no emotions. She would never feel pain.

"Where's Fuko?" Yaya asked curiously.

Nadeshiko indicated a slender finger at the wall behind her. "Next door, with the boys."

Amu muttered something under her breath. I think it was, "That bitch better not touch Ikuto."

I had heard right, because Nade responded. "She won't. She has a boyfriend."

Yaya made a little noise that sounded like she was choking and laughing at the same time, while Amu crinkled her nose and incredulously asked, "_Why?"_

I blinked, keeping my face uninterested. Nade opened her mouth to respond to Amu's question, but she held up her hand, a disgruntled expression on her face. "Rhetorical question."

"Even if she tried anything, Ikuto would not respond. I believe he cares very much about you, Amu." Nadeshiko spoke emotionlessly. Then a thoughtful look dawned on her face.

"How nice it must be, to have someone care about you…"

I didn't envy her so much anymore. Instead, I felt sorry for the beautiful, unwanted girl sitting there, unable to comprehend what caring for someone felt like.

* * *

**First of all, I'm SO SO SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING. There's no way to describe how sorry I am. I think I've said this before but homework seriously destroys all my free time, and what little time I do have I usually spend doing something else. I don't always feel motivated to write, but the more reviews and stuff I get, the better and more confident I feel about AMI. (Hah. Ami.)**

**Anyways, since it's Spring Break, I'm going to be going on a cruise, where I shall have no wifi. But fear not! Because I will write parts of AMI on the cruise, and upload them when I get back. **

**The updating issue aside, I do realize this chapter is short, but hopefully the humor makes up for it. I'm not naturally a funny person, but I tried! I swear! And while I don't update often, I hope every chapter is worth it!**

****Hands out the promised dumpling to everyone who reviewed**

**But I hope you like it! Read and review, or I'll get Fuko to track you down and murd- uhm, I mean, gently suggest that you do so.**

**Haha no but seriously. R&R, love you guys!3**

**~Sea-chan**


	14. Flaw 13: Ultimatum

Chapter 13~ Flaw #13~ Ultimatum

I woke up to the sound of Nadeshiko singing.

"_There's no way I could love someone, but I want someone to love me…" _she sang, brushing her long indigo hair. "_Even if yesterday continued unchanging into tomorrow, we'd still be the same, you and I…"_

She stopped the instant I opened my eyes, setting down the brush and staring into the mirror. Her voice really was beautiful, perfectly tuned and melodious. Probably because she was a robot.

"What song was that?" I asked groggily. She shrugged.

"I think it was called "All Alone With You" by Egoist. I just remember it because it was in some anime I watched."

I raised an eyebrow. "You watch anime?"

She shrugged again. "Sometimes. Fuko tells me to watch TV and stuff to educate myself more about the world and absorb different sorts of behavior to create the perfect person. Anime's my favorite because of the visuals plus humor and the high morals in it."

"You have favorites?"

"Stop asking questions." She snapped. "I'm not authorized to tell you much more, anyways."

I shut up, not wanting to bother her. Which was weird, since I usually didn't have trouble with bothering people. But the fact that she was a robot combined with the fact that talking to her and looking at her was pretty much like looking at Nagi, made it all a little harder. It's sort of hard to be mean to someone who looks exactly like the person you're in love with.

Amu woke up next, yawning and groaning and reaching for her charas, who weren't there. All she felt was the smooth, hard shell of the eggs, dull and drained of color. After the charas got forced back into their eggs, the eggs had lost their color. As long as they remained sealed, the eggs were black and white, including Kusukusu's.

I ran my own finger longingly over Kusukusu's egg, missing the bright colors of her egg and her wonderful playfulness, but at the same time, kindness. Kusukusu embodied everything I wanted to be: funny, sweet, kind, warm, and free of worry. Yet I was the exact opposite: sarcastic, rude, ice cold, and held the weight of the world on my shoulders.

"So what are we supposed to do for the test?" Yaya's sleepy voice startled us. We had all thought she was asleep, but she was awake and rubbing her eyes, hugging a teddy bear. She's fourteen.

(Well, actually, I have a teddy bear too, but shh.)

Nadeshiko shook her head. "No need to ask. Just get dressed and we'll all go to the testing center."

Cue collective shuddering.

At that moment, Fuko busted open our door, singing some random tune that was supposed to be cheery. I guess she was a pretty good singer, but just the fact that she was Fuko made me want to chuck a pillow at her. So I did.

She dodged it, damn.

"You all look fine, come on!" She took Amu's arm and my arm, before we could even change or anything. After pushing us out of the room, she grabbed Yaya as Nadeshiko followed her out. She did all of this so fast, we couldn't even react. Plus, we were still sort of half-asleep.

"No!" Amu wailed. "My hair!" Fuko rolled her eyes and pushed her along the corridor.

All the boys were up as well. Kukai, for some reason, was wet. It looked as though Fuko had thrown water on him. Ikuto looked amazingly gorgeous for someone who had just gotten up, and Amu seemed well aware of this fact. Kairi and Tadase were on the ground, asleep.

Nagi looked sleepy, and admittedly, not at his best. But I felt my heart twist a little, seeing him rub his eyes innocently and his hair tangled cutely. It was endearing to see him not so perfect for once.

They were all in their pajamas, and so we were, but-wait. Where's Utau?!

"Where's Utau?" I asked, bewildered, ashamed that I had totally forgotten about her and didn't notice that she was gone.

The other people all seemed to give a little start and looked around, as if they too, had only just noticed that Utau was gone. We suck.

Well, all but Ikuto and Kukai, and Fuko.

"Somebody recognized her, and asked for an autograph. Utau got held back and almost spilled that Fuko had kidnapped us, so Fuko stuck her in a separate room. I don't know where she is." Kukai looked worried.

Fuko hit him on the head with surprising force, making him bend over from pain. "Don't talk so loud." She scolded. "Besides, Utau-chan is fine."

She flounced over to the room right next to the boys, inserted a key, and flung it open, much like she had done to us.

Utau was standing there, fully dressed, and with her hands on her hips. She looked like a mixture of furious and exasperated.

She stomped out and stood next to Kukai.

Fuko clapped her hand. "All right, we're all here. Into the car~!"

"Are you going to drive?" Amu asked, looking scared.

"Yup!"

Oh dear God.

Fifteen minutes and three passed out people later, Yaya, Kukai, Utau, Nagi, Nadeshiko, Ikuto, and I got out of the car, while Amu, Tadase, and Kairi were dragged out by Fuko. She splashed cold water on them to wake them up, and I understood why Kukai had been wet.

"Alright, march!" Fuko grabbed Ikuto and Yaya's arms because they were near the front of the group. She proceeded to "walk" them up the stairs to the doorway of the building we had stopped in front of.

It wasn't a huge, huge building, but it was fairly large, made of matte black bricks and reflective glass panels. The words 'Easter Corporation' were engraved on the top right corner of the building.

The rest of us followed Fuko dumbly, with Nadeshiko in the back. She was probably there to make sure we didn't run away or something.

Once we got inside the doors, we were forcibly blindfolded and led along several corridors until we entered one room.

The blindfolds came off, but before that happened, something was placed in each of our hands.

Eggs.

I looked down and gasped. Kusukusu's egg had color, which means she wasn't sealed in anymore. As if on cue, she popped out, smiling widely at me.

"Rima-tan, I missed you!" she clung onto my face, making me giggle and pet her with one finger.

"I missed you too." I told her, my voice actually containing some emotion.

The others were busy talking to their charas. Amu had the most greetings, since she had four charas to contend with.

I looked curiously at Utau and Ikuto. They were the oldest. Heck, Ikuto was a legal adult, and Utau would be soon. Hadn't their charas disappeared?

Ikuto was still holding his egg. Yoru hadn't popped out. So his egg hadn't disappeared yet, but his chara was getting weaker.

Utau had Eru by her side, but was looking sadly at Iru's egg. The little devil was probably sleeping inside. I felt bad, feeling my stomach twist at the thought of ever losing Kusukusu.

I glanced cautiously at our surroundings. We were in a large, barren room with high ceilings and no corners. It was a circular room, the wall surrounding us padded with foam. So was the ground. Walking around was actually really fun.

"What are you trying to do?" Kairi asked, evidently thinking the same thing I was. "Is this some sort of trap?"

"No." Fuko said simply. "Wait."

I eyed her warily. "For what?" I challenged.

She only blinked.

I opened my mouth again, intent on protesting, when I suddenly understood.

My entire body was on fire.

The pain was so sharp and real that I almost went numb. I felt it in every single fiber of my under five feet tall body. There was fire, shooting through my veins, my limbs, and my heart. My body felt dangerously overheated, and I could smell smoke. I was smoking!

I was burning from the inside, and I heard a shrill noise. It took a while for me to realize that I was screaming.

Tears streamed down my face, but dried instantly because of how hot my face was.

It hurt like hell, but at the same time, there was something familiar and powerful about the feeling. I understood it.

My entire life, I had been ice. I treated everyone the same, cold and harsh. I let nothing past my barriers; let nothing take me down. I was hard and unforgiving, sharp and deadly. Ice.

But now, I was sick of it. I was sick of being ice, trapped eternally within my frozen heart, unable to feel, think, emote.

I was burning, blazing, searing.

And I liked it.

For the first time in my life, I was fire. I had the power to do whatever I wanted. I could let myself be free. To melt. To love, to live, to laugh about something other than comedy. To be happy.

I could take down anything in my way. I was fire now, and I wasn't going to be reduced to embers again.

This was me.

Rima Mashiro.

I stood, the pain fading but the tingling sensation lingering. I stared at Fuko, looking her dead in the eye, and instantaneously transforming into Clown Drop.

"You can't keep us here." I said, hearing my own voice and feeling different. "You can't fight me now."

Three blazing juggling pins circle above her head. And yet, she remained calm.

"True, I can't fight you." She replied serenely. "But I can bargain with you. I have something you want."

"Like what?" I snarled, lowering the juggling pins close enough for her to feel the heat of the flames enveloping my weapons.

"Information. About who you really are, Rima." Fuko said.

"It's Mashiro to you." I snapped. "You can't call me Rima." To my surprise, Fuko laughed at this part.

"I'm afraid not, Rima. It's not 'Mashiro' to anybody. That's not your real surname."

"What?" I was so surprised that I almost singed her head off. I extinguished the fire, summoning my pins back to me. "What do you mean?"

She looked at me, her icy blue eyes seeming to pierce my soul. "You are not who you think you are, Rima. You were adopted."

Adopted?

"What?" I gagged, coughing with shock. "I'm not adopted."

She shrugged. "You look nothing like your parents, Rima. Surely you have noticed that."

No, no, no.

"True, but…" I hesitated. "Maybe I look like my grandmother."

"Oh, sure. The grandmother you never met?" Fuko challenged, a glint in her eyes. "Haven't you ever wondered where your grandparents are? Ever considered that maybe your fake parents were hiding them from you, so you wouldn't realize you were adopted?"

"What do you think they're always fighting about, anyways? You, sure. But what about you? Did you think it was just the kidnapping? No, it was about your adoption. How they never should've taken you in. How to keep it a secret. How you brought danger to them. You weren't wanted, Rima. By either set of parents." Fuko finished her cruel rant with a knowing smile.

I was shaking. From anger, sadness, disbelief, or fear, I wasn't sure.

"What are you offering me?" I whispered, afraid of the answer.

She kept smiling. "A chance, Rima. A chance to find out who your real parents are. Why they left you. And to find out who you really are."

She was right. She had something I wanted, now. This was an ultimatum, and I had no choice but to accept.

"Fine." I spat out, ignoring her outstretched hand.

Fuko waved her hand. "I have given your Shugo Chara back. You are free to leave if you fight past Nadeshiko."

The rest of them had been silent while Fuko and I had conversed.

"If Rima stays, I stay." Nagi said firmly. Amu nodded in agreement, and everyone else did too.

Fuko's smile stretched. "Excellent."

* * *

**The stupidest thing happened. I thought I updated, but only realized I hadn't when my view count went up by zero. So sorry, guys.**

**Also, I noticed that I'm only one review away from fifty. OHMYGOD, HOW DID THAT HAPPEN? I can't believe you guys actually like my story. Thank you so much!**

**As soon I reach fifty, I'll do a chapter with an omake. If I ever reach one hundred, I'll do a double update.**

**(I think one thousand is like my ultimate eternal omg I'd die happy goal, but I'm far off as of now.)**

**But anyways, review please!**

**Question: Should I start doing review replies within a chapter? Because I usually reply to reviews by PM, but that way I can't reply to guest reviews. Should I?**


	15. If We Ran an Ice Cream Store!

Omake 1~ Part 1

"I'm so bored." Amu drawled. She lazily drew designs in the fabric of a sofa in Nagi's house.

Actually, all nine of us were at Nagi's house. This entire summer had basically so far consisted of us meeting up at his huge mansion and doing random activities like surfing and walking to Chipotle. (a/n: I'm sorry, I love Chipotle)

We were out of things to do though. I mean, Utau had already let us perform onstage with her at a concert (gosh, that was a DIASTER) and we watched Kukai's (numerous) soccer games, and Nagi had tried to teach us to dance.

We had even made jello shaped like a crown with Tadase!

That should show you how bored we were.

Nagi suddenly sprang up. "Let's start an ice cream store!"

Ahahahahahaha….um, what? "Ahahahahahaha…um, what?" I asked out loud, literally voicing my thoughts.

Ikuto raised an eyebrow. "Mashiro, was that a laugh?"

"No." The rest of them chorused. Ikuto was the only one who didn't know me well enough to understand that I never laughed like that. That was my sarcastic 'what-the-hell-are-you-talking-about' laugh.

Nagihiko was grinning. "No, seriously! Let's start an ice cream store! I mean, it's summer and all, so people will definitely want to buy."

"Besides," he added, flipping his hair and smiling in a devilishly handsome way. "I'm attractive. People always want to buy stuff from attractive people."

"Like hell you are." I retorted, reclining on the couch next to Amu. Nagi pouted.

"I am!" He insisted. Everyone snickered quietly as we quarreled. For some reason, that made Nagi smile.

"Whatever." I huffed. "Not like you're the only person here that's attractive. Utau's a pop star, remember? And girls hit on Ikuto all the time."

"The girls here are pretty too!" Yaya piped up. "I mean, Amu-chi and Rima-tan are so popular. And some people tell me I'm pretty too!"

I nodded sagely. "Yeah, so shut it, Fujisaki."

"Never said you weren't beautiful, Rima." Nagi breezed, running over to his fridge and miraculously pulling out ingredients.

He thinks I'm beautiful? Oh gosh. I could feel a blush coming on and willed it down, trying not to smile.

"Our first order of business is to advertise and set up the shop." Amu said, sounding excited. Gosh, she was going along with it?

"Sounds good, Amu." Nagi nodded approvingly.

Kukai and Ikuto went to find wood, so we could build our ice cream shack.

"Wait!" I called. "It's almost dark outside!"

"That's okay, Rima-tan!" Yaya called, jumping excitedly. She and everyone else except for Nagi and I rushed outside to help.

I facepalmed. My friends were stupider than I thought.

That's when I realized I was alone with Nagihiko.

* * *

**Hey guys! I reached fifty reviews, so I'm posting part one of the omake. I guess I'll post part two when I have time or when I get to 75 reviews or something. Idk. Anyways, this one just takes place sort of AU, over the summer. No Fuko and stuff.**

**Maybe for the next omake I'll write about the time they performed with Utau...hmm.**

**Love you all!**

**~Sea**


	16. Trial 1: What Would You Give

Chapter 14~ Trial 1: What Would You Give

I couldn't believe that my friends were going to stay here with me. I almost felt like tearing up. But that wouldn't be acceptable right now, because I had to find out what Fuko wanted.

"So?" Amu demanded, crossing her arm. "What kind of trial do you have in mind?" She was already decked out as Amulet Heart. As strong as Amu was, though, Fuko's smile unnerved me.

"Our very first test will take place in this room. I will split the ten of you into two teams." Fuko explained.

I furrowed my brow. "Ten? There are only nine of us."

Fuko shook her head and pointed. "Nadeshiko will be joining you."

Great. Actually, more like fuck.

"Great." Nagi muttered.

"More like fuck." Amu chimed in.

I loved it when my friends thought like I did.

Fuko heard us, I think, but I didn't really care. She was not on my list of people to care about.

"I'll explain. The rules are simple." She looked at us all. "Have you ever played capture-the-flag?"

"No." I answered, while everyone else collectively said, "Yes."

I threw my hands up. "Yay."

Fuko chuckled. "It's not hard. Basically, each team has a flag to protect, and one half of the entire field that's dubbed their 'territory'. Each of the teams starts on their own side, and when the whistle blows, you are allowed to cross over to the other side. However, once you are there, then the other team is free to 'tag' you and put you in their jail. Once inside the jail, you are not allowed to move until someone from your team manages to cross over to the side you are trapped on and tag you. Then you both get a free pass back."

"However, in our version, you are allowed to use any method to avoid being captured, except killing. The same rules apply to the other team if they cross over onto your side. Your end goal is to grab the enemy's flag and make it back to your side without getting tagged. Got it?"

"Sure, sure." I agreed sarcastically. "What's the point of this?"

Fuko leaned in. I leaned backwards, so far that I almost toppled over. "The point is, Rima, to see how much you would give."

I shivered. What was that supposed to mean?

She stood back up straight, a satisfied smile on her face. She began to walk away, out of the room.

"Oh, yeah." She threw over her shoulder. "The point is also to give us a good show."

Bitch.

* * *

Fuko exited the room through a door, and suddenly a section of the wall was clear, like glass. We could see Fuko in a room along with some other agent people, hunched over control panels.

"What are they-" Tadase started to ask, only to be cut off as the entire room shimmered and then turned into…

…a huge grassy plain with two stretches of forest on either side.

Fuko's voice boomed out of nowhere. "This will be your playing field."

"IT'S FUCKING HUGE!" I screamed up at her.

She ignored me. "Each flag is hidden somewhere in the forest. We'll split you up into teams now."

Suddenly, five of us rose into the air.

"What is this?" Kairi cried. He, Yaya, Amu, Ikuto, and Nagihiko were rising into the air and speeding further away from us.

"Ohmygod!" I screamed, running after them, only to be held back by Utau.

"Don't." Utau warned. "She's just making the teams. They won't get hurt."

I took a deep breath. "Okay. Right."

I looked around. Who was on my team? Kukai, Tadase, Utau, Nadeshiko, and me…

Okay. Good news was, we had Nadeshiko. Bad news was, we had Nadeshiko.

"I'm not going to sabotage you." Nadeshiko said, crossing her arms. "I know that's what you're thinking. Fuko told me to play seriously, and that means helping you. You can count on me."

The rest of us exchanged wary glances. Tadase looked nervously towards Nadeshiko.

"I-I think we can trust her." He offered, locking eyes with us. Tadase was usually gentle, but his eyes looked hard and firm today.

"Okay." Kukai agreed, surprising me. I raised my eyebrows.

"Really? Do you think so?" Utau asked, sounding concerned.

He nodded. "I remember Nadeshiko. Well, Nagi dressed up as Nadeshiko, anyways. This one acts exactly like the other. If it's true that Fuko wants us to play seriously, then she'll help us."

Nadeshiko didn't say anything, but nodded.

"Fine." I gave in reluctantly. Utau grunted her consent.

On the other side, I saw them landing gently. I wondered if they could hear us if we shouted.

"Hey, we'll help you!" I shouted. "We'll bring the flag over to you!" Amu gave us a thumbs up.

Fuko spoke. "You can't, Rima. There are magical barriers to prevent you from helping each other. And there's Nadeshiko. She won't show the other team mercy."

Kukai ignored her, running into the forest to look for the flag. He came back a few minutes later, looking defeated.

"I can't touch the flag. There's this weird shield around it or something." He explained.

I opened my mouth to respond, but just then, a huge shimmering wall rose up in the middle of the field. It was mostly transparent, but you could still see it.

"What is that?" Utau blurted.

"The territory line!" Fuko said cheerfully. "I'm going to blow the whistle in three, two, one!"

A shrill blast left me cringing. And before I knew it, Nagihiko was speeding towards the territory line, and crossed over to our side.

"Let him pass!" Utau yelled Kukai and I moved, letting Nagihiko run past us, transformed as Beat Jumper.

"Thanks!" He yelled over his shoulder.

Suddenly, he crashed into Nadeshiko.

"Crap!" I cursed some more under my breath. "I forgot about her!"

We watched helplessly as Nagihiko grappled with his artificial twin. There didn't seem to be any clear winner so far. Then Nadeshiko forced him onto the ground and dragged him over to the jail, where he pounded against invisible walls.

Utau pushed me towards the line. "Go! Get the flag from the other side. They won't stop you! Let's just try and end this game."

I nodded, running over the line. This side of the field felt no different than the other side, but I saw Amu, Ikuto, Yaya, and Kairi spread out.

Amu saw me first. "Run, Rima! The flag is in the forest, near the right edge!"

I nodded, pumping my legs faster.

Then, weirdly, Amu started skimming over to me.

"What are you doing?" I asked, confused, seeing her hand outstretched to tag me and drag me to the prison.

"I don't know!" she cried, looking confused. "I can't control what I'm doing! It feels like I'm being pulled along by something! Watch o-Heart Rod!"

A long pink stick almost whacked me in the head before returning to Amu's hand. Good thing I was short.

A translucent image of Ran popped up next to Amu. "I'm sorry, Amu!" she wailed. "I don't know what's going on, but I can't control your movements!"

"It's okay!" Amu reassured her chara. "Rima, you have to watch out!"

I nodded, panting and trying to dodge Amu's attacks. She was getting closer, and I couldn't run faster.

"Kusukusu, help!" I cried. She popped out next to me. "I can't do anything, Rima-tan! Unless we attack Amu-chan, she won't stop!"

And I suddenly realized what Fuko wanted us to do. She wanted to turn us against each other. But I wasn't going to go along with what she wanted.

"Alright, then. Is it possible for us to fly?"

Kusukusu nodded. Suddenly, my ropes came out of nowhere, materializing in my hands. I floated up into the air, now skimming across the top of the grass, my ropes whipping around. I found I could control where I went depending on how I tugged.

I was going faster now, and soon Ran ran out of energy. (Haha, Ran ran-okay, that was bad.) Amu plopped onto the ground as herself, but only had a moment to rest before Miki was forced into a charanari with her.

"Amulet Spade!"

I was far away enough now for her not to catch me though. However, another problem arose.

Ikuto was bounding towards me with a strained expression on his face, like he was trying to stop himself. I guessed that he was also unable to control his movements.

"Run, shortie!" He shouted. I bristled, offended, but decided to take his advice. As Black Lynx, he was seriously fast and agile. I wouldn't be able to evade him for long.

I stopped in panic as Amu came from one end, and Ikuto from the other. I had nowhere to run.

_Wait for it, Rima._ Kusukusu murmured in my head.

I tensed, and right why they were both about to tag me, I shot straight up. It was a classic trick, but they crashed into each other. It looked painful.

"I'm really sorry!" I shouted as I raced away. Amu waved her hand to signal that it was all right.

Yaya and Kairi were now running at full speed towards me. I wasn't exactly scared of Yaya, since she wasn't at all intimidating, but Kairi's sword looked sharp. And if he wasn't able to control himself…ouch.

"Run, Mashiro-san!" Kairi warned. I swerved to dodge and began to run in a different direction.

"I already got the memo, thanks." I grumbled, breathing hard now. It was getting increasingly more difficult to keep up the flying stuff.

For some reason, Yaya seemed to have more self-control than the rest of us. She was able to hold herself back, not moving towards me.

Then I realized that wasn't the case. She couldn't move at all. Her expression screamed panic, and I wished that I could go back and help her.

Suddenly, Kairi stopped in his tracks as well. I stopped flying and landed, gulping down air in exhaustion. I looked over the territory line, and saw that Kukai, Utau, and Nagihiko were all frozen. Nadeshiko seemed to be able to move freely, as I was.

Wait, just kidding. My limbs hardened, and I couldn't move. It was the most uncomfortable feeling ever. My facial muscles still worked, but that was it.

Lighting rumbled, and my jaw clenched as Fuko appeared in the middle of the field.

"Enough." She snarled. "This is ridiculous. You are not allowed to help each other. You have to fight, and you have to fight seriously."

She marched over to Yaya and gripped her upper arm. Yaya cried out.

Then she moved over to Nagi, who was still in his prison. She first handcuffed him, then dragged him out.

"Because if you don't, then I will kill them." She gestured to Yaya and Nagihiko. "Without mercy."

"No!" Kairi cried. I wanted to cry out, too.

She glared, looking angry. "That isn't for you to decide. Kukai, move over to the other team."

He opened his mouth to protest, but Fuko drew out a knife and he immediately complied.

"We're restarting."

Suddenly, I flew up into the air and back onto my side of the territory line. I had no control over my body whatsoever.

Utau's eyes were red. She looked terribly angry, and it didn't suit her when she wore an angel's guise. Her wings flapped in irritation.

Fuko threw Yaya and Nagi in the air. Two roped came out of nowhere and looped around their necks lightly.

"Stop!" I screamed. She gave a cold smile.

"They won't be harmed unless you refuse to participate. You now have a time limit. In thirty minutes, if one team has not one, the ropes will tighten around their necks and kill them. Likewise, if you try to help each other or let each other pass, they will die."

The whistle sounded and Fuko disappeared.

I was so mad I wanted to punch something. Unfortunately, I might have to soon.

"Go." I said to Utau. "You have wings. It'll be easier for you." She nodded, eyes dead serious.

Tadase and I scanned our side for intruders.

Ikuto came leaping over the line, speeding towards the forest. Tadase intercepted him, and the two began to fight. They had always had a grudge, honestly, and I felt like the two of them sort of wanted this, to see who would come out top.

My mouth trembled. What a terrible thought.

Nadeshiko walked over to me. "Here he comes." She warned. Kairi ran over the line, wielding his sword, grief and determination on his features. He was so worried about Yaya; he might actually harm one of us.

"I'll take him. " Nadeshiko offered. "His sword will do the least damage to me. Meanwhile, go for the flag. Utau and Kukai are engaged in battle."

I looked over and saw that she was right. They were fighting, and from their expressions, it pained them to hurt the one they loved.

I turned around. Nadeshiko and Kairi were already going at it. Kairi sliced his blade through the air, his movements swift and sharp. Nadeshiko nimbly moved back and aimed a finger. Electricity arched, but Kairi avoided it. The two of them were both dexterous, no movements wasted.

I took a deep breath and ran over the line.

Amu didn't see me. I opted to use stealth this time. I crept along, using my height to stay hidden among the long grass.

And then she turned around and saw me. Her expression was terrified, but she started with determination towards me.

I shook. I didn't want to fight her. Amu, my best friend? There was no way I could hurt her.

From her eyes, she felt the same way, but she sped up to a run. I scrambled to my feet, transformed into Clown Drop and flew away. Amu compensated by rising into the air as well.

"Go back on your side, Rima. I don't want to fight." She intercepted me from the front.

"I can't. I have to get the flag."

"I'm really sorry it has to be like this. Damn Fuko."

She had tears down her face. With a shock, I realized I did too.

"It's okay."

Then we crashed into one another, full force.

* * *

I felt dizzy. I was lying on the ground, eyes hollow and half closed. The air was hazy. My hair was dirty with ash. It draped over my arms. My Clown Drop outfit was smeared with grime and I had open wounds.

Fire was caught on the long green grass. I would've run from the forest fire that I had accidentally set off myself, but I had no energy left.

I had no idea where Amu was. I hoped she was safe.

I saw a tall shadow striding through the dust. He was carrying the flag, cat ears twitching.

"We win. Game over." Ikuto had won, then. Tadase must be pretty depressed. I managed a small chuckle at that thought.

Cool water poured over me. It stung as it ran into my wounds. Then the walls shimmered and slowly faded down, and we were once again in the training room.

I saw Nagihiko and Yaya being lowered. Their eyes were closed.

I coughed, and dragged myself up to a sitting position. Then I crawled over to where Nagihiko lay.

"Nagi?" I whispered. He didn't move.

I touched his face. It was warm and smooth. I laid my ear against his chest, and I heard his heartbeat, soft but sure.

I collapsed, then, curled up in the curve of his arm.

"It's over." Fuko announced, seeming pleased.

She said something after that, but I didn't remember what it was. I was already asleep, absolutely exhausted.

* * *

**Yay.**

**Leave me some reviews, please.**


	17. Recoup 1: Dommage, Jolie

Chapter 15~ Recoup 1~ Dommage, Jolie

My eyes fluttered open. My entire body ached. The first thing I registered was Nagi.

I was still curled up next to him, and he was still asleep. How much time had passed? An hour? Two?

Then I looked down at myself and found that all my wounds had been treated, and I was back to myself again. Kusukusu's egg rested next to me, temporarily disabled. I could tell because it was black and white. I had several bandages, and I was wearing fresh clothes.

I wondered who had changed my clothes. Unless it was Amu, Yaya, or Utau, I was going to kill them.

My skin was clear and clean of dirt. My hair had also been washed, and even combed, and it was dry. Which must mean…

"Oh, you're awake." It was Utau. "Good thing I brought food this time."

"How long has it been?" I asked, already guessing the answer.

Utau shrugged. "A day, give or take."

I was right. I knew that my hair was super thick, so whenever I washed my hair it took a long time to dry.

Nagi had been given the same treatment, as far as I could tell. His hair was actually longer than mine, so the ends were still damp. Besides, he had gotten a few scratches from scuffling with Nadeshiko, so he had some little Band-Aids on them. His neck had been wrapped. I touched it protectively.

He started, eyes opening suddenly. "Rima!"

"Here." I replied monotonously, gingerly drawing back. He sighed.

"Oh, okay. Where is everyone else? What happened?"

Utau responded. "Ikuto's team won after they hung you and Yaya up. You guys fainted, and Rima here got hurt. Well, so did everyone else, but since she sort of started a fire she got injured the most. Her leg's broken."

"What?!" I shrieked, looking down. Sure enough, my leg was wrapped in a bulky cast. "No, no, no, no!"

"How did I not notice this?" I groaned into my hands. Utau shrugged again.

"I don't know, you were pretty dizzy with all that smoke." She twirled a finger next to her temple. "You might've not reacted to the pain."

Nagi looked at me with concern. "Are you okay?"

"What do you think?" I grumbled. "My leg's broken and I didn't even notice. My sense are failing, I think."

He gave a relieved laugh.

"Anyways, most of us are in the infirmary, recovering. Kukai and I went to get food. I brought some for you guys." Utau set down a tray full of breakfast foods that looked really good.

"Mhmm." I tried to keep my voice indifferent, but the truth was, I was starving. "Can we eat now?"

Utau snickered. "Of course. Not like I'm stopping you. I'm not your mom."

_But you act like one sometimes_, I wanted to say, but I decided to hold my tongue and dig in instead. Besides, the mention of 'Mom' just brought me a fresh wave of bitterness, confusion, and anger. Nagi did the same. We must've looked like dogs or something, eating off of a tray on the ground, but I couldn't care less.

"This is good." Nagi mumbled, stuffing his face elegantly. Somehow.

"Yeah." I agreed. He stopped eating.

"Whoa!" He made an exaggerated surprised expression. "Rima just agreed with me! Utau, did you put something in the food?"

"Of course not!" I snapped, but I was actually amused on the inside.

He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm, then it must have been the smoke."

"No!" I swatted him, and Utau grinned slyly.

"Well, I'll leave the bickering couple alone now. Kukai and I are going to go eat breakfast."

I felt myself blushing. "We're not a couple!"

"But you know you love me." Nagi cooed, jokingly. I huffed.

"Of course not!"

He laughed. "You already said that."

"Whatever, indigo-head. Keep eating."

The next few days, we got to lounge around the big black building. I slept most of the time and played games with the rest of the group. We all rested and every two hours a doctor would come in and treat our wounds. None of us left the infirmary, not even Utau and Ikuto, who had gotten the least wounds and were already healed. Turns out Ikuto had whipped Tadase pretty good, and that Utau's definitely the dominant one in the relationship.

(Honestly, I'd always figured she'd top.)

Then on the fourth day after the test, Fuko came into our room.

"How are your wounds?" She asked, almost sounding concerned. Ha. If that were the case, Nadeshiko wouldn't be eerily stationed in the corner of the room, watching us.

"Good, no thanks to you." I retorted. I'd sort of become our spokesperson when it came to dealing with Fuko, because I was the one she wanted to keep here, and I handled her the best.

"Actually, it's all thanks to me." She corrected. "I'm the one providing the doctors and treatment."

I was about to tell her to shove off and that if she hadn't kidnapped us, we wouldn't have been hurt, but decided against it since it would just spawn another pointless argument. "What do you want, Fuko?"

She folded her hands behind her back innocently. "I'm here to test something."

Everyone groaned collectively.

She waved her hand. "Oh, it doesn't require any work on your part. It's pretty much an experiment this time. We're going to try some new healing technology on you. Rima, your leg has been improving, but at this rate, we'll never get through all the trials."

"Oh, heck no!" I exclaimed, pulling my legs close. "You are not doing some freaky experiment on my legs! I'm vertically challenged as it is!"

Nadeshiko came over and held me down on the bed and strapped me in. "Don't worry, Rima. It's been tested before, with a ninety percent success rate. It's okay."

"What if I'm part of that ten percent?" I demanded, but they all ignored me.

My friends looked worried but helpless. They really had no idea what to do. One wrong move and the procedure could mess up.

A huge machine was wheeled over to the bed, and I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for the worst.

A minute later, Fuko tapped me on the head. "It's done, Rima."

My eyes flew open. "Already?"

She nodded, smiling. "Yep. And it seems like it worked. We're removing the cast now, and we'll see in a second."

Some doctor was sawing my cast away. As the bandages were unwrapped, I flexed my toes. Then I stood up, and walked, and then ran in place. Everything worked perfectly.

"Yes!" Fuko exclaimed. "This will revolutionize technology and medicine! Thank you, Rima, for being our first human test subject!"

"What?" I shrieked. "You've never tested on a human before? I thought the success rate was ninety percent!"

She rolled her eyes. "It is. On mice."

I wanted to spew out profanity at her, but she skipped towards the door, and then looked back at us. "Well, come on! Since Rima can walk now, let's move you to your new accommodations!"

We all glanced hesitantly at each other, but reluctantly followed.

"Omigosh!" Yaya squealed as Fuko pushed open the door to our room. I had to admit, it was jaw-dropping. The walls were entirely glass and behind them was an aquarium. It was one of those cool underwater rooms.

The room was huge, and the beds were the round kind and memory foam, with remote controls to adjust height and stuff. I walked over to one and sat down, appreciating the squishiness of the mattress.

There were also bookshelves, nightstands, and a huge T.V. in the corner. There was a small door leading to the bathroom, which was probably also super cool.

Fuko laughed at our obvious awe. "Well, then I'll leave you here to enjoy your surroundings. Since all of you are almost close to fully healed, the next test is tomorrow."

Nobody said anything. We didn't give her the satisfaction of letting her see us despair.

She walked towards the door, but before she exited, she looked back at me. "Oh, and Rima? _Dommage, jolie._"

My eyes grew wide with horror as she skipped out. "Wait!" I ran towards the door, but it shut with a final bang right before I got there. I pounded and tried the lock, but nothing worked. We were trapped again.

_How did she know? How does she know about that?_ _And why did she say that just now?_

"Rima?" Amu asked uneasily. "What does that mean?"

Ikuto answered. "It means, 'too bad, pretty.' It's French."

I shook. "It was what my kidnapper said to me when I was seven and told him I didn't want to die."

Everyone was silent.

* * *

**So I've decided to add in a short recovery chapter after each trial or two. What do you think? Is it a good idea? **

**And yeah, some Rimahiko this chapter *insert heart* since the story's been kind of lacking in it recently.**

**Love you all, and review!**

**~Sea**


	18. Trial 2: More Than Necessary

Chapter 16~ Trial #2~ More Than Necessary

"Wonder what she's got in store for us." Utau chewed on the end of a pencil thoughtfully. She had been scribbling down possible lyrics on a napkin, but gave up halfway and threw it in the trash. Kukai hugged her close.

"Ikuto, do you know anything about Fuko?" Amu asked, hands clasped together hopefully.

He shook his head. "No, when Gozen was the head of Easter, no one thought he would be replaced for a long, long time. I have no idea where Fuko came from, or who she is, or how she got to be in such a position. It's all really suspicious."

Yaya pouted. "She kidnapped us! Isn't that a little more than suspicious?"

"Still," Kairi mused. "There must be something more to the story."

I crossed my arms. "How much longer is she going to make us wait? I'm getting antsy."

Nagi sighed in frustration and looked towards the door. "I don't know. She came in maybe half an hour ago and told us the test would start shortly. She still hasn't come back."

"Nadeshiko has, though." Tadase murmured. We all glanced at her sitting perfectly still in the corner, the way Nagi did. It was creepy how alike they were, and yet how completely different.

Also, I was kind of scared for Tadase. He had been hanging out with and talking to Nadeshiko, of all people. He got along with her better than any of us did, even Nagi. I hoped he didn't like her or anything.

Suddenly, the door opened. We all turned towards it to see Fuko. She was carrying a big tote bag, and behind her stood two agents with blindfolds.

"And then fun begins again." I sighed. "Where to?"

Fuko reached inside her bag. "You'll see in a second. But first, put these on." She drew out several silver bracelets. They were solid, and chrome, looking sleek and modern. They had a small, engraved initial.

She handed me one. My initial was R. They didn't give me a last initial. Everyone else got his or hers. Amu's said H.A. Nagi's was N.F. and so on. I clasped the silver cuff onto my right hand, and let myself be blindfolded.

After walking a few corridors, we arrived once again at the training room area. Only this time, it was really long. I turned towards Fuko.

"How does this work, anyways? How come we get hurt even though it's just an illusion?"

Fuko shook her head. "It's complicated. You wouldn't understand. But illusions are powerful things, and combined with technology, we can make a lot of things happen. You'll see what we can do this time."

She went into the control room and shut the door, leaving the ten of us (yes, Nadeshiko was there, only without the cuff) in the room. The walls shimmered once again and the room completely changed.

Only this time, I didn't get time to survey it, because I got snatched.

"Hey, what the-" Cue a cloth smothered to my face. I breathed in the harsh smell of chemicals, and fainted.

I had just been kidnapped. _Again._

Really, you'd think that one would get used to it by now. But I understood why Fuko had said, '_Dommage, jolie.'_ She was giving me a hint about the next test.

I woke up a while later, head hurting like crap. I looked around and realized that I was in a cave…and so was everyone else. I tried to move and found that I had been stuffed in a sack.

I gritted my teeth and held a finger to the burlap and started burning it. A small hole grew, and I was able to work my way out. Luckily, they didn't tie me up.

I ran over to one of the other sacks and circled around it until I found the small opening that allowed them to breathe, like it had for me. It was also the hole I could see out of.

Looking inside, I saw that it was Tadase. Working my fingers in the hole, I held my fingers to the side of sack from the inside, not wanting to accidentally burn him if I had done it from the outside.

Soon, I got him out, but he was still sleeping. I turned around to start working on the next person.

"Amulet Heart!" Amu busted out, having torn her sack to shreds with her Heart Rod. I nodded in acknowledgement at her.

"Amu, we should help others get out." She agreed, working on attacking the next sack carefully. It was Ikuto (figures) so she was kind of rough on him.

After she got him out, Ikuto awoke and chara-changed with Yoru, gaining sharp claws. It went faster after that, and we got out Kukai, Kairi, and Yaya. Utau got out on her own, having transformed with Iru, who I guessed had woken up out of her egg. I could tell Utau was glad to have the little devil back.

Nadeshiko zapped her bag to ashes before climbing out to join us. She pressed a button, and I opened my mouth to ask her what she was doing, but didn't complete the thought before I fainted.

_Again_. Really, this is more than necessary.

When I woke up (do you see a pattern here?) I looked around again. It seems everyone had just fallen down, and nobody got tied up.

Wait.

Oh. My. Fucking. God.

I breathed heavily, not daring to look down at myself. Trembling, I touched my face. Why was it so _fat?_ And _soft?_ And _squishy?_ And my hands….they were so small and chubby! And I was so, so short!

I was…I was…

"Whoa, Rima." Nagihiko observed. "You're three."

I looked up at him. He was definitely taller than usual. "No way! How old are you?"

"Eighteen, or something." Nagi stated smugly. Holy crap. He was REALLY attractive. I mean, he already was, but this kid just kept getting better looking the older he grew. Fuck him.

"This is way more than necessary! This is not cool! Fuck you, Fuko! Fucko! You too, Nagi! How come you get to be older?"

Nagi cracked up. "Ohmygosh. Seeing three-year-old you cussing is so funny."

I stomped on his foot. Nadeshiko, who seemed totally normal, moved to intercept me before I seriously hurt him. I turned to face her.

"Oh, right! What am I going to do to him? I can't, because I'm practically a fucking baby! Rawr, fear me!" I plopped down on the ground since my short fat legs were getting tired of holding me. My hair had been long, even then, and it was tiring dragging it around.

Amu cracked up. She looked so much older, with longer hair and better curves. Her clothes were tight on her.

Oh crap! Clothes! I looked down, realizing I was trailing clothes that were way too big for me. I wanted to cry.

So I did. I mean, I'm three. I can.

Amu seemed to realize the clothes problem, and looked embarrassed. Then she realized that for some reason, Ikuto wasn't perving on her, and relaxed. "I think I'm like twenty one or something."

"Yaya too!" Oh my god. Yaya bounded up, her clothes also tight as a result of her sudden growth spurt. She was slender and lean, but beautiful. She looked strangely mature with her hair down.

"Oh great." I muttered. "The two oldest ones are the two most immature." Amu flushed.

"A-Am not!" She protested, but Nagi was cracking up.

"Who are they?" Nadeshiko asked, pointing to two babies sleeping peacefully on the floor. Nagihiko ran over and scooped them up, bringing them over to us.

One was petite and blonde, and a girl. The other was a boy, with blue tufts of hair. "It's Utau and Ikuto." I realized. See, that's the good thing about weird hair colors.

"So the two adults are babies now!" Yaya exclaimed. "Ne, what about everyone else?"

"I'm twelve." Kairi admitted grudgingly. He looked super embarrassed when Yaya hugged him, face pink as she pressed her new twenty one year old body against him.

"Aww, Kairi was so cute when he was twelve!" She exclaimed happily. I groaned. Apparently, Yaya didn't understand physical attraction.

"But if we see any bad guys or whatever, he won't be able to fight as well!" I exclaimed, stomping my tiny fucking foot. Nagihiko cracked up all over again.

"High-five, Rima!"

Kukai stood in front of me, and for the first time ever, we were the same height. I high-fived him gladly.

"Kukai, are you three too?" I asked excitedly. He nodded.

"Feels like it. Our vocal chords are well developed enough for us to talk. And so we still sound like ourselves, because we have our memories and the ability to talk."

I raised a small eyebrow. "Whoa, you're starting to sound like Kairi. Maybe baby Kukai was smart."

He laughed and scratched his head. "Maybe."

Tadase waddled over. He looked to be about five, totally adorable with huge ruby eyes and soft hair. I wonder if this was what he looked like when he had first been in a family like relationship with Ikuto.

Hmm. No wonder Ikuto ran. I don't know if I'd be able to live with such sparkle attack potential everyday.

"This is really strange." He said, but his face was fire red as he stared at Amu. Totally oblivious, she bent over to pick up one of the sacks, sending Nagi into another fit of laughter as Tadase stared.

Oh, it was a good thing Ikuto was a baby.

"Anyways, everyone's woken up." Nadeshiko observed. "Any idea what we do now?"

Nagi stopped laughing and peeked his head out of the cave. Then he came back inside slowly, looking awed.

"Guys, I have no idea where we are, but…it's pretty freaking awesome." He murmured. I rolled my eyes and waddled over, attempting to shove his eighteen-year-old mass of hotness out of the way.

Then I had a moment of awe too. Because in front of us, there was a huge, huge desert. But beyond that, I caught sight of sparkling waters and waves tumbling among sandy shores. Even further up ahead lay a forest, green trees in full bloom, branches tantalizingly beckoning. And finally, far, far, away, tall, craggy mountains touched the sky, various villages scattered on its rocky surface.

I stepped back inside with dignity. "So. Who else agrees that this is more than necessary?"

With Nadeshiko's help (I hate to admit it, but the girl-er, robot, deserves some credit) we managed to locate three sacks of food. There was also an additional sack of water canteens, and another one with diapers and baby formula. Heh. For wittle Utau and Ikuto.

"There'll be enough to last us one day. As in, twelve hours." Nadeshiko affirmed. "That's assuming I don't eat, which I don't need to, and that the older ones give part of their food to the younger ones. My best guess is that we need to make it to that village before sundown, or we shall perish in the deep."

"Wonderful." I grumbled. "The little ones can't walk that far. Me, Kukai, Tadase, Utau and Ikuto are the ones who'll need help. Kairi can probably manage a respectable distance, but he'll have to rest too. Nadeshiko can go on the longest. Nagihiko, Amu, and Yaya are all athletic and older, so they should carry the sacks. And at some point, they'll have to carry us, too."

Kukai was the one that mocked me this time. "Whoa, little Rima is getting smart!" I huffed, but smiled. Nagi scowled for no apparent reason. Geez.

"We better start moving now." Nadeshiko said, checking her watch. "It's twelve o'clock. If we don't start, we'll never get there before sundown."

Sigh.

We passed the desert without much problem, but our water supply diminished more than Nadeshiko would have liked. It seemed unnecessary to say that she was officially the leader of this exploration, since she didn't need food, or water, and she had a mental calculator. Plus, she could walk like, forever.

But then we got to the small ocean. The breeze felt wonderful, but there was no way to get over.

That's when Amu found some large pieces of wood, along with some weird, stringy plant. Nadeshiko pieced it together.

"We're supposed to build a raft using this." She was kneeling, examining the pieces of wood. "We'll have to work as quick as possible."

She tasked Kairi and younger with making ropes. We ran around collecting long, stringy pieces of the plant, knotting and twisting it together to create the ropes.

The others assembled the general shape before taking the ropes we had made and lashing it around the structure, firmly tying it together to make a small boat.

Kukai suggested we have lunch, so we could get rid of some food and weight while using one of the bags for a sail.

So we sat there, munching bread and cheese and fruit. I finished mine and sniffled. "I'm still hungry."

Nagi sighed and held his sandwich out to me. I pursed my lips, feeling rude. "No, I don't want it. You're the one doing work."

"Just take it." He smiled, amused, at my out-of-character concern. He stuffed it into my mouth before I could respond, and I was too hungry to complain.

After lunch, we boarded our makeshift raft. I clung to the "mast" tightly, afraid of the thrashing water.

Nagi was declared captain. I don't really know why.

He pulled on the ropes a bit, and opened the bag sail. Luckily, we had brought a few of the burlap sacks, even though they were all damaged in some way.

"Hark to starboard!" He called, looking dashing as the sea wind tossed his hair this way and that.

"What the hell does that mean?" I grumbled, clinging miserably to the mast as everyone else basically heaped together in the tiny area.

"I have no idea!" He responded cheerfully. I resisted the urge to give him the 'you-so-dumb' look, settling for a facepalm.

The ride was rough, but manageable. A couple times Nadeshiko went up to help Nagi when he couldn't figure out how to control the small vehicle.

She was honestly being a really big help. I wondered what the catch would be.

But then everything started going wrong. Yaya noticed first. "Guys, we're leaking! The back part is falling off!"

And suddenly the boat fell apart.

"Ahh-blarghalrgno!" I only heard a couple screams before we went under. I couldn't breathe. Water was everywhere, and I would've drowned if Nagihiko hadn't taken my tiny hand in his.

"Hold on, Rima! Breathe!" I gasped a couple times, and held my breath as we went under again. When we came up, Nagihiko had Ikuto under his other arm. The baby was looking a bit purple. I touched his cheek, concerned.

"We have to get to shore. Rima, do you think you can swim?" I coughed before nodding.

His gave an encouraging smile. "You can do it. I believe you can. Take a piece of wood and put Ikuto on it, then hold on and paddle. The shore's right there."

I spit out a tiny bit more water, then followed his instructions and safely got to shore. I pushed the piece of wood back to him, and he went under for Utau. He swam her to me before turning back to help Tadase.

Kukai drifted on his own, clinging to a small piece of wood. I held out a hand as he neared shore, and pulled him up. We watched as Kairi struggled ashore, sputtering and retching. Poor boy must've swallowed a ton of water.

Yaya was a surprisingly good swimmer, and she streaked towards the land easily, hauling herself out. I had forgotten she was a dancer, lithe and quick with lots of stamina.

Amu, however, was freaking out. She could only get above the water for a couple a seconds to breathe before she went under again and again. It looked like torture.

Then Nadeshiko surfaced, and in one swift move, hefted Amu onto her shoulder and shot towards us. She literally somersaulted onto the ground from the water, tumbling in with Amu.

Nagihiko calmly swam to shore with Tadase. We were all here, coughing and wringing our hair out.

Nadeshiko dived in one more time, then returned with three bags. One held food, the other had baby items, and the last was full of empty canteens.

"I know it sounds harsh, but we have to keep moving. It's seven P.M., and we have to get to the village before midnight. Or maybe by ten, since we've lost supplies. Think you all can move?" Nadeshiko asked, hands on her hips.

"Nade?" I asked, quietly, cradling Utau. "Everyone seems fine, but I'm worried about Utau. She was under for a while and couldn't breathe. Her lips are purple, and she's shivering. She hasn't coughed up any water."

Kukai rushed over as fast as he could. He listened to her heartbeat, then cursed. He started pumping her tiny chest with his own small hands.

"I trained as a lifeguard for a summer job last year." He explained, in between giving Utau CPR. She coughed up a substantial amount of water, but he still seemed worried.

"She has air in her lungs now, but we have to get her warm. We have a couple of hours, at most. Nadeshiko's right; we have to keep moving." He picked her up, but immediately fell over. He was only three, right now.

"It's okay, I'll carry her." Yaya said stoutly. She seemed weirdly grown up right now. Kukai thanked her, handing baby Utau to the adult.

Nade held up a bag. "I'll go find a river and get fresh water, and try to find some food. Everyone take five, dry out, and get Utau warm. Then we'll keep going."

Nobody complained or argued. I began drying out my hair, and took a short nap. Everyone else did more or less the same. Only Kukai didn't rest, pacing back and forth while keeping an eye on Utau, who was huddled against Yaya for warmth.

Nadeshiko came back fairly quickly, with a few fruits and full canteens. She handed Kukai a small bushel of leaves.

"It's thyme. Have Utau chew on a leaf or two. It'll calm her down and help her breathing."

He nodded, working on waking up Utau and coaxing a leaf in between her lips. It was sweet watching the two of them: three year old Kukai taking care of a baby Utau.

But we had to go on. We ate fruit along the way. I gave mine to Nagi, insisting that he needed to keep his energy up and that this was just repayment.

We cleared the forest in about half an hour, tripping over roots and huge tress. We had about an hour or so left before Utau would freeze.

And it _was_ steadily getting colder as night fell. I wrapped one of the sacks around Utau to try and keep her warm.

Then, as we approached the mountain, we began a slow ascent. There was a trail and that mostly easy to follow, but at a few parts we had to climb precariously over jutting outcrops or scale a few feet of mountain.

Then came a particularly dangerous drop off. The only way across was a tiny bridge of rock.

We decided Nadeshiko should go first. She had no problem with it, nimbly navigating the crevices to get to the other side. Amu and Yaya went next, each carrying one of the babies. Kairi and Tadase helped each other across.

Then Kukai went, and Nagi.

I was last. I had always had a fear of heights, but now wasn't the time to give into my phobia. Taking a deep breath, I scooted over the ledge, and began clinging onto the bridge, taking tiny steps and scoots to get over.

I was close to the other side. So, so close. Nagi held out a hand and I almost touched it and-

My foot slipped and I plummeted. My breath nearly stopped as I was suddenly jerked upwards and no longer falling.

Nagihiko had managed to snag my fingers and slowly pulled me up.

He hugged me close as I was finally pulled up. He laughed. "Good thing you're so small now, or I might not've been able to save you."

I trembled, but let out a small laugh of relief anyways.

Kukai pointed. "The village is up ahead. We have only a tiny bit of time left. Utau's getting worse."

We sprinted part of the way. Then Nadeshiko swung Tadase on her back and picked Kukai up, and Nagi gently set me on his own back.

"It'll be faster." Nade simply said. Then they ran all the way. We tumbled off in a hurry and rushed into the nearest house.

"Fuko! I know you're there!" I bust into the kitchen. There she was, sitting at a table, sipping tea. I felt a spark of anger, but forced it down, instead gesturing to Utau. "We need help, Utau's getting hypothermia."

Fuko nodded, and gestured. Two nurses came forward and took Utau away.

Then Fuko pressed a button and I expanded. I didn't faint this time, but it felt extremely weird. When I opened my eyes, I was back to myself, sixteen year old Rima.

Everyone else was, too.

But Nagi lay on the ground, convulsing. I ran over, and shook him. He was trembling and having random spasms, and Rhythm's egg was shaking violently. Nagi clawed at his throat.

_The fourth pain_, I realized. He was going to develop his gift.

Then he stopped moving and closed his eyes.

When he opened them, he looked a bit different. Almost dangerous.

And he was _close._

"Kiss me, Rima." He whispered.

And his voice was smooth, velvety, otherworldly, and irresistible. So for some unfathomable, strangle, inconceivable reason…I did.

Then I realized what I was doing and reeled backwards. "What the fuck!"

He laughed. "It worked. I know what my gift is."

Fuko sighed. "Silkentongue, the persuasive whisper. He can make people do just about anything with just his voice. I guess this means I should get out of here."

She drew a small, glass bulb from her pocket and smashed it against the ground. White, hazy smoke filled the room and we all doubled over coughing.

When the smoke cleared, she was gone.

* * *

**This chapter was really fun to write. Oh, age-warps :3 Anyways, I know it's really long, but hopefully that's just more fun for you all!**

**Reviews, please!**

**Love, Sea**


	19. Trial 3: If Only They Knew

Chapter 17~Trial #3 If Only They Knew

"Kukai?" I knocked on the door to Utau's infirmary room hesitantly. I knew he was in there, next to her.

He opened the door, looking tired. "Oh hey, Rima." He attempted a feeble grin.

Dammit. I felt so bad. It was my entire fault that they were in this mess, that Utau was in the condition she was. Damn Fuko.

"I'll watch over Utau now. You can get some sleep." I encouraged. He looked like he was about to argue, but an enormous yawn got in his way. He relented, stepping out of the room.

I walked inside, taking a seat on the stool Kukai had been sitting on. Utau's eyes were still closed, but she looked peaceful. Yet, Utau had always been headstrong and fierce, and now, lying there without any fight, she looked vulnerable.

I bowed my head, tears threatening to spill. "I'm so sorry, Utau." I whispered. A hand softly stroked my hair, and my head jerked up. Utau had placed her hand on the top of my head and she was smiling weakly at me.

"It's not your fault, Rima. We stayed because we wanted to." She coughed. "And, well, I don't know about the others, but I kind of want the Influence. If you're around, we can all catch it." She joked, trying to make me feel better. Her face turned serious.

"And… who are you, Rima? That's something really important that you have to find out. I want to know, too. The Rima we know might not be the real Rima, and I don't want that to be true. So I'll help you uncover if it is or not, okay? Fuko said I could sit out the next test, so don't worry." Utau's smile returned.

I had never been particularly close to Utau, but her speech had rendered me helpless against my tears. Only they were now of gratitude, not of despair. "Thank you, Utau."

She had already fallen back asleep.

* * *

"March!" shouted Fuko through a tablet screen that one of the agents held up. She had said that Nagihiko couldn't control her actions if she wasn't in front of him in person, or is she couldn't hear him. Nine of us rolled our eyes at her and purposely walked in a crooked line towards the testing room.

"No, not there!" Fuko cried. "We're going somewhere else this time. Follow!"

All of us made abrupt 180s and glared at her before reluctantly following her while being shadowed by hulking agents. One stepped a bit too close to me and I made sure he could see the fire flickering in my hand. He moved back. Not without satisfaction, I extinguished the flame.

Fuko led us out of the facility. The bright sunlight blinded us and I covered my eyes, wondering what the heck Fuko was doing. Then I realized we were on the airfield of the jet.

"Everyone, board!" Fuko yelled at us. "We're flying out today!"

No one moved, so I sighed and climbed up the ramp. Amu and Nagihiko followed, and eventually, everyone else did too.

Fuko scared us by popping out of the cockpit. "What are you doing?" Amu asked uneasily. She smiled brightly.

"I'm piloting today!" She announced cheerfully. Everyone, even Nadeshiko, groaned. Fuko looked offended.

"Okay, I may be a reckless driver, but I'm actually a good pilot. And Nadeshiko! That's disloyal!" She scolded. Nadeshiko stifled a laugh.

Good god. The robot was starting to develop a personality from being around us.

Fuko ducked into the cockpit before Nagi could charm her. We strapped ourselves in and waiting anxiously for take off. Agents slid the door closed as two flight attendants performed last minute checks and sat down in their weird temporary chairs.

"Takeoff in three…two…one!" Fuko's voice came over the speakers and the plane started to roll down the runaway.

I was seated next to Nagi and we exchanged frightened oh-my-fucking-god-I-think-we're-gonna-die-cause-so me-crazy-seventeen-year-old-is piloting-our-jet-please-remind-me-why-are-we-doing -this-again looks.

He squeezed my hand briefly, causing my heart to kind of beat fast against my will. "Think about your parents, Rima."

I took a deep breath. Parents. Right. I practically had none. Fuko was right. Neither set had wanted me. I was never anything but trouble. And that made me mad. What right did they have to make a human being, any human being at all feel insignificant? What right did they have to put me in this situation?

And this made me more determined than ever to pass Fuko's little test. Because I could. Because I was bigger than this, and because I would.

"We're ready, Fuko. For anything you could ever throw at us." I muttered. Nagi smiled approvingly.

We were now smoothly in the air, gaining altitude. When we leveled out, high above the clouds, Fuko's voice once against sounded over the intercom. "Hello, everybody, and welcome to Easter Airlines. This is the Captain speaking." I swear, she was having way too much fun with this.

"Today we will be flying to… actually, it doesn't really matter. What matters is what it's like there." We all muttered and grumbled as she continued. "You're all generally rich. This country, however, is most definitely not. You will have to toil and work and beg in order to stay alive."

I narrowed my eyes. What did she stand to gain from this? Did she want us dead? Weren't we her test subjects?

A flights attendant came around and handed us each a small remote with a single read button on it. It was square and sleek silver metal, small enough to fit in my palm. The red button took up a majority of the remote, centered perfectly.

"This remote is basically the help button. Each of you gets one. You will be spending three days in this country, and if anyone of you can't stand it anymore, just press the button and we'll come get you." Fuko explained.

"There's a catch." Kairi murmured. "There has to be."

"Be warned. If any one of you, ANY one, presses the button, all of you will be sent back without information."

"You mean… back to our houses?" Amu asked, bewildered.

"Yes." Fuko answered. "I gave you a chance to leave before. You didn't take it. Before, there were no repercussions. Now, if you leave, Rima will never know anything. Neither will you, and I have a very juicy secret you all might want to know."

"You're a liar!" Yaya shouted. "Why should we believe you?"

"You don't have to." Fuko responded calmly. "But if you press that button, all you have suffered so far will all be for nothing."

Kukai spoke up. "Do it for Utau."

"Yeah." I found my voice. "We can't let all we've been through be in vain. We have to try our hardest."

"Then you understand. There is exactly five hours and thirty-four minutes of the flight left. Good day." Fuko's voice crackled and vanished.

I looked at Nagi, then at everyone else. Most of them stared back, grim determination etched in their expressions before turning to talk to the person next to them or something.

Amu looked at the button with a strange, longing expression. My chest tightened nervously. Then her eyes hardened and she put the remote in her pocket, closing her eyes and going to sleep.

* * *

Day 1:

We got off the plane with no problems. I supposed I hadn't really believed Fuko when she said she was a good pilot.

The scene before us seemed surreal and dreamlike.

We turned to watch the jet take off before surveying the land before us.

There were no trees. The sun shone down, hot and relentless. I bent down and touched the ground. It was hard and cracked, dusty and unfertile. Sparse, yellow grasses sprouted from some of the cracks. There were no people or landmarks in sight, save a large rock behind us.

Nadeshiko voiced the unspoken question. "So… what now?"

Tadase opened his mouth to respond, but for some reason looked down. We followed his gaze and gasped.

A small boy, maybe about five, was tugging on Tadase's shorts. He was painfully thin, skin brown from all the sun he received. He was filthy, as if he had never heard of a bath. His hair was long and tangled.

"Do you have any food? I'm hungry…"

I think we all received a shock just then. Until now, it hadn't seemed quite real, but now it was obvious that the poor countries had it bad. All along, we had been living in a bubble, and now, that bubble had burst.

Nagi knelt in front of the boy. "Can you take us to the village? I'll give you food if you bring me to your house."

A request like that in Japan or America would've surely labeled Nagi as a pedophile or at least some kind of creepy kidnapper. But here? The boy looked at Nagihiko like he was a hero.

He ran off towards the rock, and we followed, going for about ten minutes before approaching a sad assembly of huts.

"Mama!" The little boy ran towards a woman dressed in rags standing in front of the closest hut. She scooped him up and gazed at us with slight suspicion, but mostly wonder and… jealously. Desperation for food was reflected in her eyes, and we obviously came from wealth.

"Mama, they said they have food."

Immediately, people swarmed out of the huts and approached us. Nagi held up his hands, looking slightly overwhelmed.

The people looked at us with need, desperation, and hunger. Nagi pulled out the packs of airplane snacks and as soon as he did, he was mobbed.

He looked stunned as the people fought to even get a piece of the bread or the pretzels and trail mix. Within a minutes, everything was gone.

"Thank you…" Someone rasped, and it echoed around as everyone ran back to their huts to protect their food.

"There's none for the little boy…" Yaya whispered to Nagi sadly. Nagi smiled, and pulled out one last little cake.

He kneeled, presenting it to the little boy in his Mama's arms. "Here."

The boy took it, eyes shining. He hopped down and hugged Nagi around the neck. "Thank you so much!"

The little boy broke off a piece and gave it to his mother, who accepted gratefully. The two of them scarfed the cake down in about five seconds. It was like they'd never seen food.

"You are welcome to stay in our home." The mother offered. "It is nothing special, but it will offer protection from the sun and the night and a place to sleep. Come in."

The sun had been steadily setting, and I shivered. It was getting strangely cold. We all stepped inside, sat on the dirt floor, and slept.

* * *

Day 2:

We learned that the woman's name was Lia, and the boy's name was Ari. Lia introduced us to the other people in the village, but I couldn't remember all of their names. She showed us the small stream that they got their water from, and where to forage for food.

"Not that there is any." She said flatly. "Good luck."

The rest of the village was either sitting in their huts, or at the stream. It was like they had given up all hope of finding food.

Nadeshiko managed to find a single dried out plum. We split it, cringing at the strange taste but washing it down with stream water anyways. We were hungry. The heat was unbearable, and the attitude of the villagers was utterly depressing. It was the worst, slowest kind of torture I had ever had to endure.

Later that day, as we were sitting in the sweltering heat in dull silence, Lia entered the hut and sat with us without saying anything.

Then, after a long pause, she spoke. "Do you know the main difference between a rich country and a poor one?"

We looked at her with interest, shaking our heads.

"It's not the resources. A traveler once mentioned that Japan is an island nation, and yet they thrive. It's not the size. He also said that Switzerland is tiny, but they live well. I was thinking about it. I have for many years. Then, you arrived and I could finally see it. The difference. It's not your clothes or the way you talk or how well fed you are."

She looked at us with admiration. "It's your fight. I can see it in your eyes. The fierceness, the will to go on. That is, essentially, the difference. The people in those countries didn't just have a will to survive. They had the fight in them to keep their legacy going, and with that, they have built empires. Us? We have no fight. No attitude. No will. We have all been simply reduced to beggars that won't even try."

She sighed. "I cannot say that I am not like that. But just know that you have fight in you. I can see it slipping away, but do not let it. Do not end up like us, weak and a slave to our stomachs. No will to do anything. Don't…" She trailed off, tears in her eyes. She stood and walked outside, leaving us to ponder her words.

"She's wise." Tadase murmured. Kairi nodded in agreement.

And all of a sudden, Amu began to cry.

"What the hell is she talking about?"

It became apparent that Amu was furious. "It's nothing like that. She doesn't understand!"

"You can tell she thinks we're lucky. Maybe we were, but not anymore! We've been ripped away from our dreams, our homes, and even who we were. We're not the same. We've been through so much. She talks like fight is something we've always had. It's not. It's something we were forced to develop, in order to live. And… I just don't know if I can do it anymore…"

She cried quietly. Ikuto comforted her, holding her close to him. When her sobs subsided, she calmly pushed him away and with shaking hands, drew out the remote.

My eyes widened in horror. "No!" I shouted.

She looked up at me as I sprang up. She cupped the remote gingerly, hesitantly. She hadn't fully made up her mind yet.

"Amu, you can't!" My voice was aghast. "What about all we've already sacrificed?"

"At this point, we're only sacrificing more!" She shot back. I trembled with fury.

"_What about my parents?_ " I pleaded. She shook her head.

"You've always been selfish, Rima. This is no exception." Amu said coldly.

And in that instant, I snapped.

"No, Amu! I'm not the selfish one. _You_ are. You have a loving family. You have a little sister, and parents who care. You have no idea what it's like to be me. What it's like to be told you aren't wanted, that you're insignificant." My voice broke. I stepped closer to Amu, who looked almost frightened.

"And you know what? If the rest of us can take it, so can you. You _were_ lucky. You were lucky to have a roof over your head and food to eat. You didn't appreciate that when you could, and now, you're willing to give everything we've worked for up just so you can have that again. Don't talk like Lia was wrong and you know everything. You don't. You don't, Amu!" I knocked the remote out of her hand.

"Stop acting like a princess. You're just going to have to suffer like the rest of us. I'm not being selfish. My birth parents aren't people I want to know. They're people I _have_ to know. You wouldn't understand because if you pressed that button, your life would be perfect again. I have no more to lose anymore. But if you ruin everything for me, I swear, Hinamori Amu, we will never be the same again." My voice was like ice.

Part of me felt detached, like I was watching myself and having an out of body experience. I couldn't believe I was yelling like this at Amu, my best friend and practically sister. Without her, I would've still stayed ice queen and never been a good guardian, or even really became a real person.

I sat down, ashamed.

"The heat's just gotten to all of us." Nagi said quietly, after a pregnant pause.

With no more words left, I slept.

* * *

Day 3:

I woke up sweating. I couldn't remember what my dream was about, but something had felt very wrong. I had laid back down when I felt something strangely missing.

I patted my pocket, and froze.

My remote was gone.

I ran outside and nearly fainted. One of the people had taken it while I was sleeping, evidently. There was a small crowd around him and they all looked at me with a mixture of fright and defiance.

"That's mine!" I shrieked. "Give it back!" I rushed forward, but the circle of people pushed me back.

"This is metal. When the merchants pass through, we could trade this for food." The native spoke with wonder, almost. I glared.

"It's not yours to trade! _Give it back to me!_" I struggled even harder, trying to break through the circle before the native did something stupid like press the button.

"We're sorry." That was funny. He sounded almost sincere. I snarled.

"I don't care! Give it!" He calmly watched and two of the native people latched onto my arms and held me back.

"I'm sorry. In this world, the strong survive, and the weak don't. Your loss."

I let out a humorless laugh. "More like, the strong survive, and the weak live by cheating. I'd rather die than earn my way dishonestly."

He stiffened before turning away. "We'll have to test it. What does the button do?"

My eyes widened and tears spilled. "NO!"

Slowly, painfully, he pressed it.

Nothing happened immediately. Then reality caught up, and I screamed.

He kept pushing it, and I kept crying out.

"NO, NO, NO!" I screamed, throat raw. I trembled from disbelief and absolute frustration. I slowly lowered my head and stopped struggling.

The world seemed oddly quiet. The hum of the landing jet didn't register. I didn't care. _We were so close. Today was the last day._

Someone's feet appeared in my line of sight. I looked up, and saw Amu holding out a hand. She was crying, too.

"I'm sorry, Rima. I know how much this all meant to you."

Numbly, I took her hand. And as she embraced me, I cried like never before. I sobbed and the whole time, she held me, and we forgave each other for everything ever said or done.

"Let's go." Fuko said coldly.

We boarded. The next six hours were a blur, until I found myself somehow at my front door. Easter's black limo drove away, and my fake father welcomed me in.

"Hello, Rima." My fake mother said._ Who are you? Where are my real parents? _I wondered. _I was so close to knowing._

"How was camp?" Fake Father attempted. Camp? What was he talking about? I realized that it must've been Fuko's cover. She would've had all legal documents and proof, somehow. If we told people she kidnapped us, nobody would believe us.

"Yes, how was camp?" Fake Mother tried also.

"It was fine, Mo-" I caught myself.

Gasping, I ran up the stair and dived into my bed. Kusukusu's egg was next to me on the nightstand. I locked the door, and broke.

I cried, and cried, and cried.

_Who am I?_

I would never know.

* * *

**Awwww. And while it sounds kind of like an ending, don't worry, it's not. I'm not one for cliffhanger/sad endings. (with exceptions, of course.) There's still like a gajillion more chapters to come!**

**Next chapter will have some funny stuff going on. Just to lighten to mood, since it's been getting heavy lately. Plus, Rimahiko :D**

**And remember, when I get to 75 reviews, I'll post part two of the Omake~ If We Ran An Ice Cream Shop!**

**Part 2 shall be titled, "Marketing Techniques". Which will be insanely interesting, hopefully.**

**Well then guys, it's bedtime for moi. Even though I just took a five hour nap. (I have laziness problems like legit) **

**Reviews, please, and I love love love you guys!**

**~Sea**


	20. Marketing Techniques

**Stay tuned for review replies at the bottom!**

* * *

Omake 1 Part 2~ Marketing Techniques

My heart nearly stopped at the thought of being alone with Nagi for who knows how long as my crazy friends went to build an ice cream stand.

He smiled, almost smirking. He had planned this, hadn't he?! The evil purple-head had been maliciously plotting my demise! NOOOOOOOOO-

Okay, Rima. Just calm down and think. You have three options.

1) Smirk back. Show him you're totally not nervous. (Hahahaha, no way in hell.)

2) Do nothing and stare like an idiot. (No, I'm already doing that. I need an exit strategy.)

3) Run like hell. (Sounds good.)

"I'll go help!" I yelped, running out and slamming the door, trying to ignore my pounding heart. Surprise and amusement flashed across his face.

"I'll go with you." He opened the door and stepped out with me. I sighed. There was no getting away. At least I wasn't alone anymore.

The others had miraculously already built the stand. And somehow gotten vats of ice cream. And cones, and made signs, and even had uniforms! (The world of anime is quite amazing/unbelieveable.)

Amu threw me a uniform. "Come on, Rima, join us!"

The uniform was adorable. It consisted of white jeans that had a leather belt crisscrossing and leaving a pattern across the hips, a white ruffled top, and a cropped leather jacket. There was a huge ice cream cone emblem on the back, which made me sweatdrop.

The sales were okay, but nothing much. Until Nagihiko showed up.

Something about his super confident aura and comfortable attention made people wander over and drool over the ice cream. (Okay, they were more like drooling over him, but…ugh. Bitches.) Amu seemed to be thinking the same about Ikuto, who had been in the bathroom and only just emerged.

I tched. "Annoying purple-head."

Nagi turned towards me. "I'm sorry, what?"

I pointed a finger accusingly. "Please! You're only making sales because you have pretty hair!"

He raised in eyebrow. "You have pretty hair, too, but I bet you couldn't sell as much as me."

I emitted an evil aura and flames lit up in my eyes. "It's on."

The rest of them watched in awed silence as the two of us began scooping up ice cream like crazy, him smiling amiably and me looking like a demon.

"Two-for-one deal!" He called, attracting some passing strangers. I glared.

"_Three-_for-one deal!" I said as loud as I could. The people floated towards me instead, even though we were at the same stand.

Nagi conceded. "You win that round. But definitely not this one."

He threw a heartbreakingly perfect smile at a group of girls, who giggled. Bitches, as if he's _actually_ looking at you. Grr.

There was a group of guys nearby, but I would never, never use my looks as an unfair advantage like that!

Just kidding, I sparkle attacked them. But there were more girls than guys, so I lost.

Stomping my foot, I sent evil death glares towards all the people at the stand.

"BUY. MY. ICE. CREAM. OR. YOU. WILL. DIE."

Nagi snickered and looked at the people with a scary face, suddenly growing ten feet tall and had evil glinting stars instead of eyes. "No, you all want _my_ ice cream, don't you?" He asked, smiling all the time. Even I shivered.

Half and half this time. We were pretty much tied by now, so we glanced at each other and began furiously throwing ice cream at each other and screaming at the customers, who were scared into buying more. Our friends had various reactions.

Amu freaked out, trying to calm the customers down but only succeeded in torturing herself. Yaya and Kukai were laughing hysterically, while Utau repressed a smile. Ikuto gazed on with amused indifference.

Kairi pushed up his glasses and glanced at us with distaste. Tadase looked plain scared.

At about 10:00 P.M., we were pretty dead. We cleaned up and then, came the moment of truth.

We slowly counted the money we earned.

"One hundred fifty two dollars and fourty-nine cents." I said, feeling sweat on my palms.

Nagi placed his last cent in the pile. "One hundred fifty two dollars and fifty cents."

"…DAMN YOU NAGIHIKO FUJISAKI I SWEAR YOU LITTLE MOTHERFUCKER I WILL GET YOU BACK FOR THIS!"

Nagi only laughed at my flaming eyes and death threats. "I'll let you win, Rima. I saw you drop a penny when we came in."

I immediately calmed down. "Really?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I'll let you win if you give me something."

I squinted suspiciously. "Like what?"

He grinned. "I just want something delicious from you, just a bit, something sweet…" he cooed.

My mouth hung open. "You're such a pervert! Get away from me!" I shrieked.

He cracked up. "I was talking about the leftover ice cream, Rima."

"…I hate you."

* * *

**Haha, so that was the promised omake. Thank you so much for 75 reviews! I'm writing the next chapter right now, so that'll come some time soon. **

** Review Replies! (Haven't replied to some from earlier chapters so these are in here too.)**

** Mysteriously Epic: **"That made me laugh so hard, I might spit out the pie I'm eating. And I don't spit out yummy pie. XD/Fuko? Is that the nice way to say the F-word? But still, AWESOME!/ XD Nagi. . ." **Thank you J I'm not really a funny person, but I tried! And I didn't intend for it to be like that, since Fuko was a reference to Clannad. But over time it has kinda turned into that.**

Goshikku Hime wa Yami-san: "Oh FUCK! Silkentongue! As if Nagi wasn't already able to get girls to do want ever he wants *fans self* please continue soooooon!/ No...Seri-no... ... Just... No *rocking back and front in front of monitor* c...cont-tinue...s-soon..." **You've reviewed almost all my chapters and stuck with me, so thank you very much for that! And I KNOW, SILKENTONGUE SHALL BE AMAZING. Nagi's so awesome3 And I know, I know, it's quite suspenseful. But the next chapter's on it's way!**

Thedancingcricket: "This is my favorite chapter so far x3 I'm really falling in love with this story! I LOVED the whole age warp, it made me smile. Three year old Rima! And HOLY SHIZZ NAGI'S ABILTY THINGY...oh God so many possibilities...so much RIMAHIKO aldkfngjsoocneifif Cannot wait for update! 8D -Cricke" **Thank you! It was one of my favorite chapters, too **J** The age warp was tons of fun to do. And Rimahiko for sure ;)!**

RienneM: "A white top and a red skirt to go with it... It reminds me of Candace from P&F :D/HOLY SHIZ IM HOOKED ONTO THIS FANFICTION! HURRY AND MAKE THE NEXT CHAPTER!

thank you (woah sudden mood change :O)" **Haha yeah, I just realized that! And thank you, I'll take that as a compliment xD You're welcome, I guess. Thank YOU for reviewing!**

BooBearPurpleHead: "I love this story. Keep writing!" **Thank you! I will, promise!**

AnimeAddict2000: "Hi, I just started reading your fanfic tonight and man would I say that the way you plotted your story is totally awesome yet confusing a little at the same time :D there wasn't a lot of mistakes but there wasn't a little either. Just in between anyways, please update as soon as you cam." **Thanks for reviewing! I guess it is a bit confusing. And yes, I catch mistakes when I go back, because I just upload chapters as soon as I write them. And I shall update as soon as I cam. (lol jk but seriously thanks)**

PandaPuppet: "awesome-update" **Thanks bro. I will.**

Smiling Sunflower: "I love the whole story! :D But the poor people are so rude and mean...:(" **Thank you! And yes, they are ): But I did like news article research and shit, so hopefully it seems more realistic. Idk.**

Jello-is-awesome-123: "Oooooh the next oart of If We Ran An Ice Cream Shop! I hope people can review so I can feast on the new information of the omake.

...That sounds kind of creepy.

I think I read this fic a while back, forgot to review, lost interest in the Shugo Chara fandom, regained interest, and read this fic. Anyways, it's really good and unique! Update soon!" **Haha thanks! Hope you liked the omake. And it doesn't sound creepy, it sounds nice J And yeah, I know I do that sometimes too. Thank you, and I will!**

* * *

**That's all for today, folks! Hope you enjoyed, and have a nice day!**

**Also, pretty please leave a review :)**

**~Sea**


	21. Trial 4: Stay

Chapter 18~ Trial #4~ Stay

"Rima, did you hear me?"

I stared at my smoothie. We were somewhere in a cafe, someplace, someday. Well, I assumed it was Saturday/Sunday, or we were just ditching.

"Rima?" A hand waved in front of my face and I blinked, looking up slowly.

"Oh. Sorry, what, Amu?"

She bit her lip, looking worried. "Are you okay?"

Utau kicked her under the table. "Of course not. The girl just kind of lost her parents."

In turn, Kukai punched Utau lightly. "You idiot, don't say that in front of her!"

Ikuto pinched Kukai. "She's right there. And by the way, don't ever hit my little sister. She's right. Rima's lost her real parents, and had to go home to fake ones without any information."

Nagihiko stepped on Ikuto's foot. "She can hear you. You're still acting like she's not there. Sorry, Rima. It's okay."

Yaya punched Nagi. "It's not okay! Don't say that!"

Kairi elbowed Yaya. "I don't think you're helping. Maybe Ikuto's right, and Rima needs to look this in the eye."

Amu glared at Kairi. "Guys, shut up. Rima's been through hell."

Tadase nervously tugged on Amu's shirt. "Don't you guys think we should, you know, talk to _her_ about it?"

I punched Tadase. Everyone looked at me, waiting for my opinion. I shrugged. "I don't know, you guys were just going around the table hurting each other, so I thought I'd join in."

Amu gave a relieved glance at me, and Nagi cracked a smile. "There's the Rima we know and love." He said to me, but worry still shadowed his eyes.

"Anyways, what were we talking about?" I asked. I remembered that there was something about school, but then Utau said something and I started drowning in bad memories again.

Amu and Utau looked at each other. "We were," Amu said carefully, "talking about the Influence."

_Oh. That's why I started thinking about my parents. _I looked at them and tried to smile. "Oh, it's okay. Continue."

They shared another nervous glance before Utau spoke. "Amu and I went through first pain last night.

A jolt of shock ran through me.

Somewhere, inside, I had somehow thought that all of it was over. All. When Fuko made us go home, something had disappeared inside of me, and I felt like everything was over. No more trials. No more Influence. No more Fuko.

But I was wrong. It wasn't like it would just disappear. No, as long as our Shugo Chara were around, and I was around, our gifts were still here.

"Speaking of which," I started, looking at Nagi. "Why didn't you just use your gift to make me forget everything?"

Nagi looked away. "I wouldn't do that unless you wanted me to. I wouldn't use my power on you guys like that."

"Unless you had to, right?" I continued. "Then you would."

Nagi finally met my eyes. "Yes."

I gave a humorless laugh. "Then make me forget. All of it."

Nagihiko stared. So did everyone else. Then he shook his head.

"It's painful for me to say this, Rima, but I can't."

I shook. I started to realize that I was crying. Tears were sliding down my face and my shoulders trembled. "Why?" My voice broke.

Everyone looked at each other. I felt like I was being left out of some secret.

"Why not? Tell me! What good could my memories possibly do me?" I sobbed.

"They've made you stronger, Rima. And according to Fuko's last words, you're gonna need strength." Ikuto finally said. I remembered that a long time ago, Ikuto had been through hell, too. If I were going to take advice from anyone, then it would be him.

"What do you mean?" Everyone exchanged glances again. God, what was going on?

Yaya spoke. "You mean, Rima-tan doesn't know?"

"Know what?"

Kukai answered. "When we got off the jet, Fuko said one last thing to us."

"'Whether you realize it or not, everything I did was actually to help you. I might've been cruel and roundabout about it, but it's true. Everything I've done has made you stronger. The trials, the kidnappings, everything. You know more than you ever would have. You've grown more. The world will need that.'" Tadase quoted.

Amu finished for him. "'The world isn't as far away from your responsibility as you think. Your group is special. That is why you were chosen to save the world. I guess you just weren't up to it.'"

I blinked. "I didn't hear her say that."

Kairi shifted uncomfortably. "You were… traumatized. At the time. Point is, maybe this wasn't always just about you, Rima. Maybe it's about something bigger, and you're just at the center of it. Maybe it's something all of us play a part in, and maybe, just maybe, we're going to have to save the world."

I laughed again, wiping away tears. "You guys are great. Tell me some more funny stories." I started laughing hysterically, crying all the while. I didn't hear anything anyone said after that.

Nagi wiped a tear away from my face. "Rima, maybe you should rest."

"Maybe I should." I said, against my will. My eyelids felt heavy. "I_ am _tired."

Then the world fell away into blissful, painless, dark.

* * *

I woke up to see my bedroom ceiling, and a face. My fake Mama's face.

"Rima, darling, are you alright?" She asked, looking worried.

I didn't answer. There was only one thing I wanted to say, and it was stuck in my throat, on the tip of my tongue, and finally, I blurted it out.

"Why didn't you ever tell me I was adopted?"

Silence followed. Then my fake mother got up, and rubbed her eyes.

"How did you find out, Rima?" She sounded weary and upset.

I felt upset, too. So Fuko hadn't been lying just to keep me there. I really was adopted.

"Never mind. Forget what I just said." I rolled over and pretended to be asleep, ignoring her pleas.

Life sucked.

* * *

I dragged myself to school the next day. I was positive that I gave off a deadly aura, because everyone stayed at least fifty feet away from me. Or I just looked disgusting. Probably both.

But Nagi didn't. He came right up to me, and stayed, even after I gave him my death glare. Throughout the entire day, he stayed, using his gift on teachers to let him stay in my classes.

I didn't say anything until lunch, when he followed me out to my tree; the one I sat under sometimes.

"Why are you following me?" I asked. He smiled.

"I'm making sure you're safe."

I snorted. "From what?"

He looked at me almost tenderly. "From yourself, Rima. If you ever need anyone, well…"

He patted the top of my head. "I'm here."

Tears almost, _almost_ came rushing out again, but I sniffled and hurriedly wiped them away before turning around. "Fine, you can stay."

I could almost feel him smiling, and the concern he showed, the niceness of someone caring, almost made me smile too.

* * *

All of my friends tried to cheer me up. They coaxed a few smiles out of me, and I appreciated their efforts, but there was something I just couldn't get away from.

My parents made me uneasy. Ghosts of Fuko and Nadeshiko haunted me in my dreams. Once, I dreamed of two people, sitting on thrones, masks covering their faces. One of them had brown tousled hair and was obviously a man. The other had hair like mine, long and huge and golden. They grinned secretively, and hushed me. I shivered, before waking up with a start.

And then, I felt like I couldn't stand it any longer. I had to get away. If Fuko wasn't going to tell me where my parents were, I would go find them. Even if I had to go to the ends of the earth to do it

I didn't care if my fake parents didn't want me to leave. Really, I didn't. That night, I began packing a suitcase. When I was finished, I hesitated, and decided to leave a note. I didn't want them thinking I was kidnapped again.

That was when my fake mama came through the door and saw me packing, and the note. She almost seemed to deflate.

"Rima, please don't." She said desperately. I swallowed.

"I'm sorry. I have to."

And she staggered forward, and gathered me in her arms. And suddenly I felt like a little kid again. I hugged her back.

I had lost sight of much in the past few days. No matter how many fights my fake parents got into, maybe they weren't fake parents anyways. They just weren't my birth parents. I tried to imagine myself in their shoes, getting a strange baby girl, and almost losing her to kidnappers. It was as if they would have no way to possibly apologize to my birth parents for losing me.

My grip on my Mama tightened. Suddenly, my birth parents were the ones I hated. Fuko was wrong. I had been wanted, by at least two people in this world. My father and mother loved me, even if I wasn't theirs.

I had to go for a different reason now. I had to go find my birth parents and ask them why they would do this to me. And I had to punish them for loading this burden onto the parents that had brought me up.

"Stay, Rima!" My mother sobbed in my ears. I patted her back.

"I'll be back, Mama. And when I am, we can all go see the cherry blossom festival for my birthday like you said, okay?" Something in my voice had changed, and I felt like crying, too.

"Okay?" I whispered one last time, before disengaging myself and leaving out the door, casting one last glance to the mother that had loved me.

My father looked at me with sad eyes. I stopped to hug him goodbye. He patted my head.

"You know, Rima, I'm proud." He said unexpectedly. "You had such bad parents. We fought all the time. And you are still fighting our battle. But you have made it your own, and you are stronger than we ever were. I hope you win, Rima."

I smiled softly. "I will, Papa."

And then as I left, I saw my mother, for the first time in a long, long, time, hug my father. And he comforted her as she cried. No blame, just loss. The way it should've been.

The walk to the bus stop wasn't long. I kept my head down as I walked, fighting against the wind. My hat went flying off and I looked up to catch it, but what I saw surprised me.

My friends were all sitting on the bench at the bus stop. Yaya jumped up and waved when she saw me.

"What are you guys doing here?" I demanded. Utau laughed at my obvious bewilderment.

"You didn't think you could leave without us, did you?" Kukai asked mischievously. "We can't let you have all the adventure. Beside, most of us have gone through first pain, and Amu and Utau have gone through second." I blinked in surprise.

Amu elbowed Kukai. "What he means, Rima, is that we're here for you. And we want you to stay."

I looked down. "Stay where? Here, in this town, where none of my answers will ever come to me?"

"No, Rima." Nagihiko said, extending a hand to us. "Stay with us. We're your family. Your friends. Your loved ones. Where else?"

I smiled. Then, I giggled. And then I started laughing. "Oh, my God!"

And I ran straight into Nagi's arms.

"I would stay. And I would go anywhere you guys wanted. But there are things I want, too. Could you do the same for me?" I asked, looking up at Nagi before hugging each of my friends in turn.

"We would, Rima-tan! But Yaya thinks we are all going to be in agreement on this!" Yaya proclaimed.

Kairi nodded. "Want to know where we're going, Rima?"

I nodded, and Ikuto answered. "We're going back to the facility."

I blinked in surprise. "You mean…willingly?" Everyone laughed.

"Yes, Rima." Tadase explained. "We're going to ask Fuko to give us another chance to pass her trials. We need her to tell us about your parents, and we need to know if we really do have to save the world or not."

They all looked at me expectantly. And finally, I nodded, smiling.

They all cheered, and I noticed that they had all packed suitcases. I pouted. They knew me way better than I would've preferred.

But then a thought occurred to me. "Wait, how are we going to get there? It's in L.A.!"

Nagi laughed. "There's another one right here, Rima. The first one we were brought to. Amu and I know the way."

"Oh."

And then the bus pulled up, and we all boarded. We must've looked so strange to the bus driver, nine kids with strange hair colors and suitcases, boarding a bus alone at eleven at night.

The thought made me laugh. For the first time in a while, I felt lighter. Almost giddy. Because there was hope, for once. Almost everyone, with the exception of Ikuto and Kairi, had gone through first pain. Nagi and I were fully developed, while Amu and Utau went through second. We were better equipped now.

Maybe life didn't suck so much after all. We all talked and joked into the night, and finally, fell asleep. When we arrived at our destination, we staggered out, weary but strong.

"You do the honors, Rima." Ikuto said. I nodded, and rang the doorbell.

The door opened and Fuko was there, smiling. She looked different. Not as…crazy.

"Welcome back. You passed."

My eyes widened.

* * *

**Review Replies!**

** FilipinA21**: "Whoa yeah. Just read ALL of what you have so far. Awesome. I'm totally following this story. The whole you-will-be-a-slave-and-do-whatever-Nagi-tells-you concept is totally exciting and gives him a very attractive edge to his personality. How he's usually this polite gentleman and then can make you do whatever he wants is an addicting character with immense depth. You never know if he'll use his ability, or refrain to do so and be respectful. Okay, I have to admit that I laughed my head off when he opened his eyes and was all "kiss me, Rima", and she was like "WHAT THE HECK?!" Oh gosh. I'm laughing again. Better stop now. Keep up the good work!" **Thank you! The follow means a lot :) And I know, right? Nagi is just so….asdfghjkl;' melts. I thought it would make Rimahiko much more interesting like this ;) Since it is a Rimahiko fic. Althought it's been kinda off lately. Thank you again!**

** 15 fallen angel: "**Nice" **Thanks!**

**Goshikku Hime was Yami-san**: "Lolz, Rima-chan you perv! XD! Great omake!

Question: I know Fuko has the tablet loophole but can't the group, I don't know, KIDNAP FUKO AND FORCE HER INTO A ROOM AND SEND SILKENTONGUE NAGI IN THERE! To get the answers Rima needs, or at LEAST give them a second chance? I want everyone to get their Influence on! XD! Something tells me Utau's gonna get her power next I wonder what'll be! XD! Continue soooooooooooooon!" **Haha yeah, it was fun to write! Answer: Because of her weird agent men! The big tall ones that are mean to our wonderful little kiddies! Haha, and now you see that they ****_did_**** get a second chance. Or rather, didn't actually lose their first one. It'll be explained more in the next chapter. And now almost everyone's been through first pain, so it's all good!**

**Mysteriously Epic: "**OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOGMOGMOGMOGMG NAGI YOU PERVERT" **xD It's a bit OOC for him but I think it makes the story better. Your thoughts?**

** Smiling Sunflower: **"Hmm, is Amu going to get...Idk, Mind Control? xD

Sorry, just being weird...:P

Continue the real plotline soon! :D (even though I like this omake!)" **Well, I actually haven't decided yet. But in a way, Nagi's Silkentongue is already mind control, so it'll probably be something else. Thank you for reviewing!**

** RedHuskiesFTFW8272**: "You have such talent! OMFG I LOVE THIS SERIOUSLY. Please please pleeaase write many many more! :3" **Haha thank you so much! I'm glad you like :) I shall!**

* * *

**This chapter actually almost made me cry. When Rima says that when she comes back their family is going to see the festival for her birthday and sdfghjkl. Feels ):**

** I don't think I've said this in a while, but stay tuned :)**

**The next chapter might take a tiny bit longer than this one did, but that's because I have to sort out some plot things. And almost because it's going to be a myster- *smothers self for revealing plot secrets* And I have no idea how to write those.**

**Ciao!**

**~Sea**


	22. Trial 5: Can You Handle It?

Chapter 19~ Trial #5~ Can You Handle It?

It was hard not to gape, but I managed to stutter out a couple of words.

"W-what are you..." That was about as far as I got before Kukai threw himself at Fuko's feet.

"Please give us another chance!" He yelped. Everyone stared, dumbfounded. Utau smacked her forehead in exasperation before dragging him to his feet.

"Dumbass, it was all a test!" She explained. Kukai looked confused.

"Wait...it was?" He asked. This time, everyone sweat dropped.

My heart was beating fast as I held my breath. Was it true? Was all of it rigged?

Fuko nodded, smiling. " That's right." She agreed. "And you all passed, because you returned out of determination."

I laughed, hardly daring to believe it. It sure was a good thing my friends had been there for me.

Fuko waved us in. "You guys must be hungry. Come on in. "

In a daze, we all entered the facility. There were no agent men to be seen.

"So...where is everybody?" I joked casually, still somewhat confused. Fuko laughed.

"They've been dismissed. Their services were no longer required, now that you are participating in your trials voluntarily, and understand their importance in making you stronger."

We entered a pretty, quaint room that had candles on a big round table in the middle. There was foods of all kind, looking fresh and delicious.

Full waved us towards the table. "You can eat, if you want. I'll explain while you do."

It seemed so surreal. I shuffled towards the nearest seat. Amu took the chair next to mine, and Nagi sat on my other side.

We dug in, delicately biting into sushi and eating noodles. Fuko watched us, a friendly, normal expression on her face. Then she started talking.

"Each of the trials represent something, and are meant to test a certain trait. Capture the Flag was meant to show you that sacrifice is sometimes necessary. When you turned into babies, and when some of you grew older, it was to teach you about responsibility, and learning to deal with the surroundings and the unexpected."

She sipped her soda. "The third trial was meant to teach you thankfulness for what you had, because times are only going to get harder. And the previous trial was to see if you would return, out of determination to do what's right and find out the truth. So you see, every trial teaches you something, and prepares you for a different challenge."

"What's the next trial?" Ikuto asked warily. Fuko shook her head.

"I can't say, or it'll render it ineffective. Some trials I can give hints, but not the next one."

"Why?" Tadase asked seriously. "Why are you doing this?"

Fuko smiled sweetly. "Hello, Prince. Nade tells me good things about you. "

While Tadase spazzed over his nickname in the corner, I asked her the same question.

Fuko sighed. "What I say next might come as a shock to you all, but I'm actually not evil."

She looked offended when Nagi gasped. It was slightly comical, and I couldn't help but laugh. He smiled at me.

Fuko rolled her eyes and continued, biting her lip and actually looking remorseful.

"Everything I did was under the orders of the King and Queen, whom I serve. It was in their orders to be mean to you until after this trial. They're the brains behind this entire operation."

Everyone's eyes narrowed. "Who are they?" Tadase questioned.

Fuko thought about it. "Nobody really knows. They have never spoken their names, nor taken off their masks. Imagine a man about Ikuto's height, wth Kukai's hair and eyes like Rima. Then a woman about Amu's height, with Rima's hair and Utau's eyes."

She leaned forward. "We don't know much about them, just that they're insanely powerful and that they are trying to save the world. Whatever has been set in motion by them started a long, long time ago, and they, along with your group, are the only ones that can finish it."

I scrunched my face. Something about the description was familiar, but I couldn't be bothered to think about what it was right now.

"This is another 'why' question, but why us?" Amu asked. Fuko shrugged.

"I honestly don't know why they think only you guys can play the crucial role. There are plenty of other people that are just as strong as you guys, perhaps even stronger. You're all still young and naïve."

I frowned. "Wait, you said we play a _crucial_ role. Are there other people involved to play non-crucial roles?"

Fuko held up a hand. "You'll only get confused if I explain now. Complete all the trials, and I'll tell you everything you need to know."

"How many trials are there?" Yaya asked curiously. Fuko held up one finger on one hand, then three on the other.

"Thirteen. And tomorrow, you'll start your fifth trial. We're going to be traveling and staying at a hotel owned by Easter."

"What are we supposed to do there? Just sit around?" Nagihiko asked suspiciously. Fuko put a finger on her lips, making the universal hush sign.

"You're going to have to figure that out yourselves. It's late. Do you want separate rooms or one large one?" Wow. Fuko was treating us pretty nicely.

I considered for a second. "Why don't we just have two rooms, one for the boys and one for the girls?"

Fuko nodded. "Okay, then. Right this way. I see you guys have packed suitcases. Just take some clothes to change into and leave the rest of your stuff in the suitcase. We'll be moving out tomorrow."

After getting some stuff from our suitcases, Amu, Utau, Yaya and I followed Fuko to our rooms. When we walked in, we saw Nadeshiko sitting on the last bed, in a nightdress, brushing her hair,

Amu raised an eyebrow. "Really? Security?"

Utau crossed her arms. "I thought you were going to be nice."

Fuko looked at us apologetically. "I am, really! And I'm really sorry, but we still need Nadeshiko to collect data. She's a learning bot, remember? She's developing a personality based on the way you guys treat her. With that information, she can gather what the real Nadeshiko was like for her to have meant something to you. But she also has differences, because sometimes you guys are harsh to her and it's necessary for her to be tougher in order to help you guys survive."

Yaya flounced over and sat on the bed next to Nadeshiko's. "Oh, don't be such pricks, guys. Nade's cool."

I gawked along with Amu. Utau sighed and moved on the bed next to Yaya's. Amu and I exchanged glances, and then slowly moved to the other two beds.

Fuko waved. "Well, I'll leave you guys alone for tonight. See you tomorrow. Wake up at 9 or so, because we're leaving at ten. Have fun."

She closed the door, but didn't lock it. I guessed that she was trusting us not to run away.

Amu was looking at Yaya. "Since when did you become friends with Nagihiko's fake twin?"

"Since you and Rima got too wrapped in your own problems to notice your surroundings." She replied smoothly. "The rest of us do talk to each other, you know."

Utau glanced at us apologetically. "She's right. Nadeshiko's not bad at all. When she does bad things, she's just following orders."

I struggled to wrap my head around that concept, and seeing Nadeshiko's eyes, brown and innocent, did not help clear my head. I couldn't imagine her just as a normal person. Once somebody electrocutes you, you have a hard time forgiving them.

Yaya gave us the puppy-dog eyes. "Just give her a chance. If we're nicer to her, she could develop an awesome personality! And plus, she can help us with her trials. She's a robot, remember? She has cool skills!"

"I guess." Amu admitted grudgingly. "Sorry we've been so distracted. It's just… four charas gone is a lot to handle, you know?"

"But we're not gone, Amu-chi!" A squeaky voice sounded next to Amu's ear, bright and upbeat. Ran bounced happily next to her.

"Yeah, lighten up, Princess." Miki joked. Dia literally made sparkles.

"Tears don't suit you." Su cooed. I jolted, remembering what Nagi had said back in sixth grade.

_"Tears don't suit you…_"

"A smile does!" I gasped and turned, seeing Kusukusu winking at me.

"Kusukusu!" she giggled and hugged my face. "I missed you, Rima-tan!"

I felt like crying. "I missed you too, Kusukusu." She had finally come out of her egg again. Ever since the third trial, Amu and I's charas had stayed in their eggs. For her, it was probably because of how awful the third trial was for her. For me, well… the reasons are probably obvious.

Pepe floated over. "Finally, you're all back, dechu~"

Yaya clapped. "That's great, you guys!"

Utau smiled, a bittersweet expression on her face. Eru patted her head. "It's okay, Utau!" Eru said. "Iru will come back someday!"

Utau heaved a sigh. "Hopefully."

Feeling happier than I had in a long time, I tucked Kusukusu into the crook of my arm and fell asleep.

"I can't believe she just left us here." Ikuto grumbled. "And she lied. It was nine forty five, not ten. She made us leave fifteen minutes early. And we didn't even get breakfast."

I raised an eyebrow. "Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Did Amu-withdrawal permanently damage your emotional nerves?"

He glared. "No, but being dumped in a random hotel after a six hour car ride with about seven adolescents did."

I sweatdropped when I saw what he was talking about. The others were all quite delirious and annoying from being stuffed in a huge van with Fuko driving for six hours (even if she did only go over the speed limit twice) and were kind of driving me crazy too.

Nagihiko bounded over, a way-too-happy grin on his face. "Hey, guys! Let's go in!"

I facepalmed. "Someone remind me why he had four coffees?"

"Something about needing sugar. I can understand that, bro. I dig." Yaya was wearing a snapback and sunglasses, and about fifty gold chains. I had no idea why she was trying to be gangster.

Amu twirled over laughing with Utau. "He's such a good kisser though!" Utau was saying. "Better than I expected. It makes him kind of hot."

Kukai's face went up into flames from embarrassment. "U-Utau! Shut up! That's personal!"

"And that's my little sister!" Ikuto growled. I made warning signs at Kukai. He, wisely, ran.

Tadase was earthworming on the ground, crawling without using his hands. Basically, he periodically stuck his butt in the air and then flattened out, each butt interval moving him closer to us. "I feel carsick."

"That must be awful." I agreed, but made no move to help him.

"Like, I'm about to throw up." He hinted again.

"Mhmm." I smiled pleasantly. He gave up.

"You're mean, Rima-chan." He pushed himself up and dragged his feet all the way to the hotel doors.

"I am." I sighed contentedly. Even Nadeshiko seemed loopy, smiling much more than necessary, like she knew an inside joke we didn't.

Kairi seemed to be the only normal one, wearing matching sunglasses with Yaya and walking over slowly. But he kept walking past the hotel and I chased after him, pulling him back as he continued to mechanically churn his legs. I whipped off his sunglasses. His eyes were closed and he was breathing deeply. I sweatdropped. He was asleep…

After some eventful resistance, we all managed to get into the hotel, checked in, and to our respective rooms. Then we staggered down for dinner.

There were only a few people in the dining room at this time. Turns out they were just about the only people in the hotel besides us, as one of them later told us.

None of the people seemed to interact with each other. There was a haughty looking woman who was very beautiful, but seemed annoyingly stuck up. She was talking on her phone.

There was a man who was on his laptop and looked to be about in his mid-thirties. He seemed nice enough, but distracted by his work and not one to socialize.

The last of the people was a young woman. She was probably fresh out of college, with a pretty, open face. She was sketching something on a canvas, a stick of black charcoal in her hand. On the small table she was seated at, there were various art materials scattered. She was listening to music and smiling, seeming lost deep in her work. Out of everyone there, she seemed easiest to approach.

As we walked past her table to sit at the largest, circular one, she smiled and waved. We waved back.

After sitting down around the giant table, there were still five seats left. I sat on the outermost edge, and Ikuto sat on the other outer edge.

"Where do we get food?" Yaya fidgeted in her seat. The rest of us looked around cluelessly.

The girl cleaned up her art materials and disappeared, presumably to her room. But a few minutes later, she came back and approached us.

"Hey, may I sit here?" She asked, indicating the next to mine. "I'm kind of bored and lonely." I nodded and she sat down.

"My name is Misaki Yuki, but you can call me Yuki. I'm an artist, nineteen years old. Everyone else here is boring and unsociable." She introduced herself, and I laughed. Everyone looked at me and evidently decided that if I had laughed, it meant that I approved of Yuki.

"I'm Rima. Don't have a surname." I replied shortly. It wasn't that Yuki bothered me, but the touchy subject of names irritated me. "I'm a comedian, age sixteen. These are all my friends, and we're staying for the night." I added, to assure her that she wasn't disliked.

"I'm Hinamori Amu." Amu chimed in. "I'm also sixteen, and I like fashion and shopping." We snickered, but Yuki smiled.

"That's cool. It's hard to be fashionable. You have to have some degree of knowledge about colors and the way things look to the eye." She told Amu. Amu smirked at us, and Ikuto started laughing harder.

Kukai held out a hand to shake. "I'm Souma Kukai. Seventeen, and I play soccer. Nice to meet you." He and Yuki shook hands. She didn't seem to have any interest in sports.

"Hoshina Utau here. Maybe you've heard of me. I'm a singer, and I'm nineteen as well." Yuki's eyes widened.

"Ohmygosh, I have! I'm actually listening to your music right now! It's amazing that I got to meet you. These are your friends?" She asked excitedly. Utau nodded and smiled.

There was a short silence as all of us considered something. "Utau, I thought you were eighteen." Yaya pursed her lips innocently. Utau huffed.

"You guys suck. My birthday was a while ago." Oh. Whoops.

Kairi coughed. "Moving on. My name is Sanjou Kairi, and my sister is Utau's manager."

"Was." Utau grumbled. "I haven't seen her since she and Nikaidou went off on their honeymoon. That was about four years ago."

Kairi raised an eyebrow. "My sister still manages you."

Utau threw her hands in the air. "Yeah, over a computer. She needs to pay some more attention to me."

Yaya laughed. "Sounds like Yukari nee-chan. I'm Yuiki Yaya, age sixteen. I love candy and sweet things! Also, I'm a dancer." Yuki smiled pleasantly at Yaya.

"I'm Hotori Tadase." Tadase introduced. "I guess I don't really have a hobby. I'm president of the school committee, though. I'm also sixteen."

"Fujisaki Nagihiko. Sixteen as well, and I'm also a dancer. I've been getting into acting lately, though." His voice was smooth. I wondered for a moment, briefly, what Yuki thought of his long hair. While it was like a girl's, there was something undeniably male about Nagihiko.

Yuki seemed fascinated. "Your hair is beautiful."

I stifled a laugh. My train of thought had been spot on.

Nagihiko seemed unsure how to respond. "…Thank you?"

Nadeshiko spoke. "I'm his twin sister, Nadeshiko. Suffice it to say that I'm the better dancer, and smarter, and better looking, and-"

"Okay, shut it." Nagihiko interrupted, looking mildly offended. I knew that the two of them were only joking, and so did Yuki. She laughed.

"Ikuto. Tsukiyomi Ikuto. I'm Utau's older brother. 21. I play violin for a living." Ikuto had his feet propped up on the table. Yuki nodded politely. She didn't have any interest in Ikuto, though, even though he was amazingly attractive.

We talked for a while, and Yuki put on a hoodie because she was cold. I noticed the chill, too. But I would never admit that I kind of wanted Nagihiko to give me his jacket.

Something distracted her in the back of the room. "Oh, look! They're started the buffet. We should get some food."

We all agreed and got up, waiting until the employees finished uncovering the dishes before grabbing plates and loading them with food. Once we sat back down, an employee asked us what we wanted to drink.

While we had been getting food, two other men had entered the room. One was formidable, and looked to be about fifty. His cruel face had no smile lines, but his hair was graying and showed his age. The man next to him was younger, and much more timid looking. He was holding a briefcase and suitcase, while the formidable man had his hands behind his back. It was obvious that he was a businessman, and the man next to him was his secretary of sorts.

They chose a table not far from ours. Then Yuki stood up. While she wasn't very large, her energy commanded attention.

"Oh, come on, guys! We can do better than this. Let's all sit here. We can have a happy time together, you know!"

Everyone in the room looked at her, and all had various reactions. The haughty woman sniffed and turned away to pick at her salad again. The man on his laptop blinked, then turned around to continue working. The businessman looked up, and then gave a start when he saw Yuki. He looked downright shocked, but the expression disappeared quickly. He turned away and muttered something to his secretary.

Yuki seemed irritated. "Hey, you!" she pointed at the businessman. We all gawked at her nerve. "Come sit next to me! Let's get this thing going!"

The man was reluctant, but everyone was staring at him, so he got up and sat next to Yuki. His secretary scampered and sat down next him, and finally, the man on the laptop left his work, picked up a plate, and came to sit with us.

The woman finished and delicately wiped her mouth, retreating to her room without acknowledging us.

Just then, the employee brought us our drinks. Yuki seemed satisfied.

We kept eating, until I saw Yuki do something odd. She took out a water bottle and poured water into her Coke.

"What are you doing?" Amu asked, noticing as well. She responded with a sheepish grin.

"I've always done this since I was a child. It's a little sweet for my taste, so I add water. Don't mind me."

Dinner was starting to become fun as everyone joined in the conversation. The businessman's secretary turned out to be a hysterically funny person, and had me laughing until my stomach hurt.

Our group diminished when Yuki accidentally knocked her drink over onto the businessman's arm. He had taken off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, so his entire arm was splattered with Yuki's Coke.

He cringed, and glared at Yuki. She apologized and took great care to clean it all up. But she didn't dare touch his arm, and neither did his secretary. He stood up and looked at his secretary.

"We're leaving." His voice was a deep rumble. "Arrange a car."

His secretary looked afraid. "I'm sorry, sir, but we can't. There's a huge storm right now and communications have been cut because of it. There's no way to drive a car in these conditions."

He looked scared, and then the expression turned into anger. "Fine. I'm going to my room to take a nap."

He stalked off, and his secretary stayed, entertaining us.

* * *

After dinner was over, we went into one of the lounges to play poker. I didn't know how to play, but Ikuto, Utau, and Nagihiko did. Nade had the official rules inside her brain.

They taught me, and we ended up gambling money. I won about three hundred yen off of Nagihiko, but I could tell he was going easy on me.

Yuki went up to ask the businessman if he wanted to join. After a few minutes, since she didn't come down, we went up to check.

We found her pounding on his door. "He isn't answering, but something doesn't feel right." She told us.

We watched as she repeatedly knocked, then later, slammed her fists into the door. By now, everyone had come up to his room, and the snobby woman had emerged.

"What's the commotion?" She asked, sounding annoyed. We didn't answer her.

Yuki was right; something was off. Even if he disliked us, anyone would answer the door at some point. It had been a good ten minutes now, and there was absolutely no response, not even a shout to go away.

The secretary looked worried. "This isn't right. He's a very light sleeper."

Kairi produced a bobby pin. "Yuki, stand aside."

She moved to the side, looking afraid. Kairi wiggled the pin in the lock, and we heard a click. Glancing apprehensively at each other, we held our breaths as Kairi opened the door.

The snobby woman screamed. Yuki looked pale as a sheet. The rest of them were in various degrees of shock and horror. The ten of us glanced at each other, totally thrown.

Because on his bed, lying facedown with a huge knife through his back, his blood staining white bedspreads crimson red, was the businessman.

Dead.

It was sickening and horrific. Even as guardians, we had never seen anything so terrible before.

Nobody seemed functional enough to panic, but that ended when the woman started screaming again. Yuki gasped and choked, convulsing. The laptop man fainted, and the secretary pressed buttons on his phone with shaking hands. When nobody answered his call, he dropped his phone and huddled into a ball, trembling.

The ten of us swallowed hard. We knew what we had to do.

Kairi stood, pushing his glasses up and looking more serious than I could ever remember him being. He closed the door, eyes shadowed.

"Don't panic. Don't go anywhere. Don't touch anything. All communications have been cut, and there is no way out. A man has just died."

He lifted his head and stared at the four guests.

"And one of you is the murderer."

* * *

**Ooooooooh. Suspense, suspense! Who do you guys think is the murderer? How? Why?**

**Leave your thoughts in that little review box down below!**

**Review Replies will be in the next chapter. (Also, I've decided that if I ever reach a hundred reviews, I'll do a double-update and another omake. Maybe about the time they performed with Utau onstage? Or some kind of Rimahiko fluff. I like fluff.)**

**Leave me delightful words of praise (or CC, I'd love that too)**

**Also, I'm in China! Don't know why you needed to know that but...**

**Summmmmmerrrrrrr!**

**Ciao! ~Sea**


	23. Trial 6: Red Herring

**Be sure to read the author's note at the bottom. Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 21~ Trial #6: Red Herring

The atmosphere was heavy and despairing. All the guests (the living ones, anyways) were sitting in the dining room. Kairi paced the floor, brain working like crazy. I could almost see the gears turning in his mind, trying vainly to put everything in place.

Nadeshiko tapped me quietly on the shoulder and I jumped slightly before turning to her. "What?" I whispered.

"I've just received a call from Fuko." She answered quietly. I blinked.

"I thought all communications were cut." She shook her head.

"Keep in mind, this is a trial. Fuko has to be able to talk to us if she needs something. She told us to check Kairi's room." She said, nudging her head in Kairi's direction. "Something tells me his brain is going to be a key factor in this trial."

I nodded. "Right. Let's go, then. Who should we take? We can't leave the four of them here alone."

She considered. "I'll go, and you should too. Take Kairi, obviously. And Ikuto, in case something requires an adult."

"Okay." We crossed over to where Kairi was restlessly walking back and forth, and informed him what Fuko had told us. Then we got Ikuto and told him the same thing.

I slid over to Amu. "Fuko wants us to do something. Tell the others to keep an eye on the four of them." She nodded, and crossed over to Kukai, Utau, Yaya, Tadase, and Nagi, who all eyed us with curious glances.

The four of us left the room and rode up the elevator to Kairi's room. None of us spoke. Kairi inserted the key into the lock and I felt myself tensing as he opened the door, the memory of the dead businessman flashing through my head.

But all the room revealed was two beds, one for Kairi and the other for Tadase. There was a box on Kairi's bed. We crossed over to it, and grabbed the first thing on top.

It was a tablet, and there was only one button. We pressed it, and the screen flickered to life. Fuko's face, a friendly expression that held hints of seriousness on it, filled the screen. She started talking.

"Hi, guys. I'm going to assume that the right people are seeing this, or else, you're screwed. Hey, Guardians! Is Rima there? If she is, tell her to press her index finger on the screen."

I pushed my finger down on the screen, and Fuko froze momentarily. Then she resumed moving. "Excellent! Now that we know that we have the right people, I'll proceed to give you directions and explanations."

"A man has just died, and you have all passed the fifth trial, which was to see how calm you could remain in the most dire of situations, and if you could use your brains and take charge at times like these. Now, for the sixth trial, you are to use your intellect and deduction skills to find the murderer."

"In this box, there are several practical tools to help you. Have Ikuto and Utau take the police badges. The ID already states their names and has their pictures, verifying them as police. There are also gloves, a camera with both black and white and color film, as well as fingerprint scanning devices, handcuffs, tranquilizer guns, and a body bag. If the need arises, you'll find more things that you probably don't have uses for in the bottom compartment of the box."

"Find the murderer before day comes, which is when the storm will be over and the murderer will be free to escape if he or she can do so. If you don't catch him or her before the storm ends, then you will have failed your trial. It is about eleven at night, and the deadline, while not extremely accurate, will be around eight in the morning. So you have nine hours. Make the most of it, and good luck."

The screen was washed over with static, and Fuko's voice floated out mechanically. "If you wish to replay this message, press the button once. If you wish to turn the device off, press the button twice. To turn it on again, press the button again."

Kairi pressed the button twice and tossed the tablet onto his bed, looking into the box. Fuko had stocked it with most of the necessary things, and Kairi tossed us each a pair of gloves, which we snapped on.

Ikuto picked up the two police badges while Nadeshiko picked up the whole box. "Right, then. We should tell the others and get this interrogation going. Rima, can you get the door?" Nadeshiko asked. I complied, pulling the door open and helping them into the elevator. We arrived back down at the dining room, and as Nadeshiko set the box down and Ikuto crossed over to Utau, Kairi and I commanded everyone's attention.

"Guys, listen up!" I shouted, or as close as a shout could be for me. "We have news."

"As I have previously stated, one of the four of you is the murderer of this man. We will now conduct investigations and hopefully, find out which one of you is the one. Would anyone like to volunteer information?"

The laptop man pointed at the secretary. "It's him! It has to be! He was the only one that even knew the victim, and the rest of us have no motive!"

The secretary stood up with a retort, but Kairi cut him off. "That's for us to decide. All of you sit at this table."

He tapped a table with four seats, and the four of them looked reluctantly at each other, probably terrified at the prospect of sitting in close proximity with a murderer. But they moved eventually, unable to ignore Kairi's piercing eyes.

"Why do you guys get to boss us around, anyways?" The haughty woman asked, her voice trembling and pupils dilated in fear.

Ikuto sauntered over with Utau and both flashed their fake badges. "We're undercover police. We have authority."

Yuki gave a humorless laugh. "How unlucky for the murderer."

"Which may very well be you!" the secretary growled. Yuki turned on him, eyes flashing.

"I would never kill anybody! Besides, I don't even know the person who died. Unlike you!"

The secretary stood up and so did Yuki, both of them looking like they were ready to tear each other to bits.

"Stop!" Amu cried. "Let's work through this in an orderly fashion."

Eyeing each other, both of them sat down slowly before looking away with troubled faces.

"First things first. Room keys." Yaya held out her hand to collect. Hm. I had never even thought of collecting them. The woman glared.

"You're going to go through our things? That's invasion of privacy!" She shrieked. Utau stepped up and held up her badge.

"We have authority. Hand then over." Reluctantly, the woman drew out her keys. The laptop man shakily placed his on the table. Yuki tossed hers to us. The secretary placed them into Utau's hand.

I looked over to see Kairi discussing something with Yaya. I walked over to them. "What are you talking about?" I asked. Kairi responded with a gesture and an explanation.

"We're talking about how to interrogate them. Separately, or together?"

"Together." I answered immediately, surprising myself. Then I figured out why. "Because I don't want any of us to get hurt. Separately, the murderer might charge us and I don't want that to happen." My voice was shaking and tears were forming. That's when I realized myself exactly how scared I was. Kairi patted my shoulder. Yaya gave me a hug.

"Together it is, then."

Ikuto was selected to lead. Since he had been interrogated many times before by Easter, he knew what kinds of questions to ask. He stood up on a table, adding to his already formidable height.

"First. We have determined the time of death to be between when we discovered her about an hour and half ago, and around eight at night, when the victim retired to his room. It is currently eleven at night, which means that there was a two hour timespan in which a murderer could have infiltrated his room and killed the victim. What are your alibis?"

"I didn't understand any of that." I murmured under my breath. Nagihiko leaned over to me.

"Basically, he died between eight and ten o'clock. Ikuto is trying to find out who is entirely innocent because they have an alibi between those times." He whispered. I hated to admit it, but his explanation did make sense.

The laptop man stood up. "We were all playing cards in the lounge, save for that woman!" He pointed to the haughty woman, who was in a bathrobe and still had rollers in her hair. If the situation weren't so horrifying, I'd have laughed at how ridiculous she looked.

The secretary glared at the standing man. "We all took bathroom breaks, you know. You went to smoke a cigarette. I went to go check on-"

He stopped. Yaya narrowed her eyes and pushed forward. "You went to go check on the victim, right?"

He cleared his throat. "Yes, I did. It was about eight-thirty. I can ascertain he was still alive then."

"But how do we know he's telling the truth?" Amu muttered. I slapped my forehead.

"This is so frustrating!" I growled. "Doesn't the room have like fucking security cameras?"

Ikuto shook his head. "I already checked."

Kairi seemed to be deep in thought. "Continue, Ikuto."

Ikuto nodded and turned to face the group. "Any of you have any relation, whatsoever, to the victim?"

They all glanced at the secretary, who scowled. "I'm his secretary, but I'm sure you all already know that." He spat bitterly.

Yuki shook her head. "I asked him to sit next to me at dinner, which you all witnessed, but other than that, I have no direct relation to him." She put a certain emphasis on the 'I', like she was trying to hint something.

The laptop man shook his head. "No relation."

"Same." The woman answered.

Ikuto and Kairi glanced at each other. Kairi coughed. "Full names and ages please."

I felt like tearing my hair out. This was going absolutely nowhere. Did Ikuto even know how to interrogate people? Then again, I didn't have better questions to ask.

"Misaki Yuki. Age nineteen."

Kairi held out a pad. "Put your fingers on here, please." She did as she was told, and the thing scanned her fingerprints. Then Kairi moved to the next person, the secretary.

"Yamamoto Natsume. Thirty-five." The secretary said, and then placed his hands on the fingerprint thing.

Next was the haughty woman. "I am Matsumoto Reiko*. Although it's impolite to ask, I'm twenty-four."

Fingerprint. Next.

Or last, rather. The laptop man raised his hand and placed it on the pad. "I'm Nakamura Aoi. Age thirty six."

"We're going to search your rooms. Kukai, Utau, Ikuto, and Nagihiko will stand guard." Kairi said. "The rest, come with me." He turned swiftly and went up a set of stairs. Amu and I exchanged glances, then followed, Yaya not far behind.

Tadase and Nadeshiko came up behind us, while the designated four stood guard. I felt my stomach twist a little, imagining a brutal murderer attacking them. Then I shook my head. There was a reason those four were chosen. They were the oldest and strongest.

"Let's start with Yuki's room. 306." We went up the elevator and arrived on the third floor, and went to Room 306.

Her room was incredibly messy. She didn't seem like the type to be so cluttered, but her room proved otherwise. How long had she been here, anyways? The place was unrecognizable from the normal hotel rooms.

Kairi picked up a tube of oil paints. "Well, we'd better start searching."

"For what?" Yaya asked, picking up several paintbrushes. "Geez, Yuki needs to start taking better care of her tools."

"Why don't we start with that?" Amu suggested, gesturing to the drapes on the wall. "Maybe she's hiding something behind them."

We pulled the drapes (actually, I stood by and watched them do it, since I was too short to reach the stupid things) and revealed paintings. We gasped.

"They're terrible." Yaya muttered. In actuality, she didn't mean that the paintings were bad. In fact, they were amazing. But several of them depicted fires, and the fires were so lifelike that they made it seem like you were burning up.

"This one is beautiful." Amu pointed to a particularly large one of a forest. The leaves were all different colors, some crazier than others, gently drifting down from smooth white bark. There were several colors, but they all worked together in harmony.

"Yuki's amazing." Tadase said in awe.

Kairi sighed. "Let's take them down."

One by one, our team worked together to get the paintings off the wall. I stood on the ground while they passed me paintings as they stood on Yuki's bed.

"Do you like them?" Yuki had suddenly appeared in the doorway, Ikuto behind her. I jumped.

"They're lovely." I answered in my usual monotone. "But it doesn't mean you aren't a killer."

She nodded. "Say what you will. I'm innocent. But what are you looking for, anyways? Gloves? The murder weapon is in the victim. You're not going to find anything."

She was right. After probably an hour of through searching, all we found was a bunch of art materials, her laptop (which we confiscated) and her clothes.

Kairi checked his watch. "About seven hours left. Let's move on. Ikuto, take Yuki back down."

I sighed, bending down and picking up two identical bottles. They had colorless liquids in them, and the only difference was the color of the cap. One was blood red while the other was light sky blue. I set them on the table, and noticed Yuki watching me.

"I'm not going to hurt your art supplies." I stated with an eye roll. "That's some kind of medium for your paints, right?"

She nodded. "Turpentine. Used to thin out oil paints. It creates that effect." She pointed to one of the paintings. "Looks smooth, right?"

I smiled softly. I wished that this had never happened. Yuki would have been a great friend, if only she wasn't a suspect. We hadn't found anything, but it didn't mean that she was innocent.

Ikuto led her away as we moved on to Natsume, the secretary's, room. His was orderly, but there were several papers scattered everywhere. There was a briefcase and two laptops. His clothes were minimal, suggesting that he and the victim had only intended to stay for one night and were passing through. Kairi checked the computer and found that they had a flight leaving from an airport near here tomorrow at noon.

We searched, but there wasn't much to see. No sleeping pills or masks or gloves. Everything was starting to feel futile (even though it already did.)

A tingling suspicion was lingering, but I couldn't pin down whether it was Yuki or Natsume. Something seemed off, though.

We moved and checked the other two people's rooms, but there was nothing. Then suddenly, I realized what I had felt.

"Hey, we forgot to check in one place." I told everyone. "Under the closet."

Yaya blinked. "But the closet touches the carpet. Nothing could be under there without the closet being off balance."

"Not even something as small as a pair of gloves? Put it on something thin and hard, like cardboard, and you could easily slide it under since the carpet is soft. Creates sort of like a pocket, see?"

I ran to one of the closets and demonstrated. Everyone seemed surprised.

"Rima, you're smart!" Amu cried. I was slightly offended, because I was sure she meant it in a wow-you're-not-as-dumb-as-you-look kind of way. You could just tell. Nagi smiled tiredly.

"Okay, let's check." Kairi ordered. "Check under the nightstands, too."

We worked backwards, and found nothing in Aoi (laptop man) or Reiko's (haughty woman) rooms. Then, as I reached under the secretary's closest, I pulled out two pieces of cloth.

Gloves.

"Guys!" I said loudly. "Look!"

Everyone rushed over and gaped, then stood silently.

"Well," Kairi said grimly. "I guess we have a clear suspect."

We went back and checked under Yuki's closet and nightstand, but there was nothing there. I noticed that she had come back into the room with Ikuto, probably, and moved her things around into a suitcase. Only a couple of art supplies were still sitting around.

We walked down and held the gloves up for everyone to see. The secretary's eyes widened.

"I didn't do it, I swear!" He blurted out. Kairi narrowed his eyes.

"We never said we found it in your room."

His eyes widened, then narrowed. "Well, I didn't do it."

Ikuto leaned down towards him as Kairi continued. "Well, all evidence says you did. There's a cake stain on your doorknob, probably from after dinner, when you went inside to get something. Likely, the murder weapon. Then, on the inside of the gloves is the same cake stain. You grabbed the doorknob again, and the cake stain got on the gloves."

"Guess what was on the knife handle?"

The secretary trembled.

"A cake stain."

"Damn, some resilient cake stain." I muttered. Tadase cracked a smile, but no one else noticed me.

"Utau? You do the honors." Ikuto said, gesturing to Natsume. Utau nodded and stepped forward, cuffing him.

"Wait!" The man said. "I have something to say!"

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be and will be used against you in court of law. You-" Nagihiko started chanting the Miranda rights, but we all glared at him and he stopped.

The man struggled and glared at Nagihiko, too. Funny, even criminals thought he was annoying.

Kidding.

"People are supposed to bleed when you stab them, right?" Natsume asked. We all nodded.

"Duh." Amu rolled her eyes. "That's kind of the point."

He continued, ignoring her 'cool 'n spicy' comment. "Well, he didn't."

I sniffed. "What do you mean? Did you not see that huge bloodstain on his bed sheets?"

He shook his head. "No. When I stabbed him in the stomach, he didn't bleed. I got scared and flipped him over, and stabbed him again. This time, he did, but only onto the bed sheets below."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Tadase asked worriedly.

"It means," I said slowly, trying to process. "That his blood flow wasn't working normally. It didn't start flowing until he flipped him over."

"And what does _that_ mean?" Kukai asked.

"That means that something caused the blood to pool on the bottom. Something unnatural." Nadeshiko answered, sharing a glance with me.

Amu sighed. "I know this is getting old, but what does that mean, exactly?"

I swallowed, not sure if I dared to say it.

But Kairi did.

"It means he was already dead."

Silence.

"It's a double murder?!" Yaya exclaimed.

Utau tugged on Natsume. "Well, it doesn't mean he didn't do it. He could've poisoned the man first, and then stabbed him to try and mislead us."

"It's not me!" The secretary insisted, but we all ignored him.

"You're still under arrest for attempted murder, even if the victim was already dead."** Ikuto informed him.

He didn't move. "I know. But I didn't kill him."

Poison. Poison… something was tugging insistently at the back of my mind, but I couldn't pin down what it was.

"We need to re-check the rooms for poison." I turned back to the group. "Look for needles, too. Anything like that. Check inside pens, between drawers, everything. We need to be through."

"Four hours left." Nadeshiko muttered in my ear. I nodded briskly.

"Right. How's the background check coming along, Ikuto?" He sighed.

"Slowly." He admitted. "I can say that the woman, Reiko, seems to be clear, though. She doesn't have any connection with the man. The laptop man- sorry, Aoi, seems to have worked for a branch in his company at one point."

Aoi tensed, but didn't say anything. I narrowed my eyes. "Did he fire you?"

He paused for a second. "Indirectly, I suppose. But I wouldn't kill someone over that."

"Okay, then. Search." I commanded.

We all rushed upstairs and continued searching. We did a quick sweep of Reiko's room, but didn't go to in-depth. Then I sighed.

"We don't know what we're looking for. We don't know whether the victim was poisoned by mouth, or by needle. Someone's going to have to…" I swallowed. "Someone's going to have to check the body for needle marks."

There was a pause, and then Nadeshiko spoke up. "Oh, don't worry. I'll do it."

Right! I had totally forgotten that she was a robot and wouldn't be traumatized or disgusted by touching a dead body. And she would probably be better at spotting something as tiny as a needle mark, too.

"Thanks, Nade." We all chorused, glad it wasn't us. She smiled and walked away.

After searching Aoi's room thoroughly, we moved on to Natsume's. Nadeshiko came back. "No needle marks. Not even between the toes, where nobody would've noticed it."

We all looked at each other. We had lost one of our precious leads. "Also, there's only three hours until daybreak." Nadeshiko added. I opened my mouth, about to respond, where there was a loud noise downstairs. Our heads snapped towards the sound.

"Grab him!" We could faintly hear Kukai's voice.

We all tumbled down the stairs to see Utau slumped on the floor, cradling her chin. Kukai was knelt over her, while Nagihiko and Ikuto, along with Natsume, were gone.

"What happened?" Yaya cried. Kukai looked up.

"Natsume jerked backwards and hit his head into Utau's chin. She let go and fell over, and then he ran. Ikuto and Nagihiko went after him." He explained, eyes more serious than I had ever seen them.

We all were silent for a moment. Then I spoke, feeling heartless.

"This sounds bad, but Utau is going to be okay. We can't afford to waste time. We have to keep searching."

The others nodded, looking scared and frightened. I turned to Amu. "Amu, you stay. With four charas, you'll be able to deal with something. Kukai, look after Utau. The rest of you, keep searching."

Kairi nodded. "After Natsume's room, there's just Yuki's. Let's keep going."

We finished searching Natsume's room and found nothing. Finally, we went back to Yuki's.

"She packed up." Yaya grumbled, sounding annoyed. "More work for us."

We all attacked the suitcase, scouring every corner. We found nothing, until I unzipped a secret pocket by accident. Inside was one of the bottles I had seen before, with the red cap.

"She probably just keeps it there because it's toxic and she doesn't want it on her clothes-" I stopped.

Everyone gaped. "Toxic!" I exclaimed. "Turpentine is poisonous!"

"Rima, how do you know?" Tadase asked. I waved him off.

"I wanted to learn how to paint when I was younger. We learned to be careful around this stuff." I explained. I unscrewed the cap and took a whiff of it.

Everyone seemed cautious, and Yaya actually gasped. I crinkled my nose at the disgusting smell. "Turpentine, all right."

"How did she get it in the victim?" Kairi asked. I shrugged.

"I don't know, let's ask."

We went down the stairs and I walked over to Yuki, slamming the bottle on the table. She raised her eyebrows.

"Turpentine is poisonous. You're the murderer, aren't you?" I accused. She scowled.

"Almost everything I use to paint is poisonous. You might as well accuse me of squirting a tube of my oils down his throat. I didn't kill him using turpentine."

I faltered. She had a point. Then I remembered something. "Where's the other one?"

She blinked. "What other one?"

I growled. "Don't play innocent. I've already seen it. Where's the other bottle? The one with the blue cap."

She frowned. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Liar!" Before I knew it, I had tackled her and was patting her down. "Where is it?"

Suddenly, I felt a lump in her boot. I reached in, ignoring her shrieks of protest, and pulled out a half empty bottle of colorless liquid. The cap was blue.

"Please explain why you lied, Yuki." Kairi said, pushing up his glasses. Yuki shrugged.

"I didn't lie. I forgot about that. It's a medicine that I take for headaches sometimes. I keep it in my boot." She said, looking like the picture of innocence.

"Take it, then." I dared. She glared.

"Fine. Probably not healthy to take random medicines when I don't need them, but fine." She snatched the bottle a drank a bit of it. She set it down and she was perfectly fine. "Satisfied?"

I stepped closer to her, and stared into her eyes. She was so close I could smell her breath. I wrinkled my nose. "Why does your breath smell like garlic? There wasn't any served tonight." She hesitated.

"Well, garlic smells don't just go away. They can last for longer than a couple of hours, you know. That's why breath mints don't work. I had some for lunch today."

"I was sitting next to you during dinner." I countered. "I didn't smell anything."

"Must've been all the other food smells." She replied smoothly. I gritted my teeth.

"Rima!" Nadeshiko suddenly exclaimed. "I remembered something. The victim's breath smelled like garlic, too."

I whipped around and stared at Yuki. She shrugged again. "So what? He must've had it for lunch, too. It's not exactly an uncommon ingredient in food."

Yaya seemed to be deep in though. "Wait… Garlic smell, clear, odorless liquid?"

We all looked at her expectantly as she thought out loud. "I think I've read about it in a book before. Kairi and I were studying animals for a paper, and it talked about horses using this substance to take medicine. Uh, what were the details again?"

"DMSO!" Kairi yelled, making us all jump. I saw Yuki flinch. "Is that what you're talking about, Yaya?"

She nodded excitedly. "Yeah, yeah! It absorbs through the skin. When the horses didn't want to take their medicine by mouth, they would rub it on their skin. DMSO has this unique property. It's able to take other drugs into the skin with it. It absorbs into the central systems very easily. It's colorless and odorless, but leaves a garlic smell on the victim, even if it's not taken by mouth."

"In other words," I said, narrowing my eyes at Yuki. "You could've mixed the turpentine and the DMSO, and then just placed it on his skin. It would've absorbed and killed him while he was napping. You didn't expect the secretary to try and kill him, so that's why you looked so shocked when you found him dead."

I frowned. "But when? And why?"

She nodded. "Exactly. I was with you guys the whole time, except those last few minutes when I went to go call him. But your little autopsy indicated that he was dead before then."

She was right. She hadn't left our side, so when…?

"The coke!" Amu said. I raised my eyebrows, confused, and then I understood.

"Right, you poured some colorless liquid into the Coke! You said it was water, but it was probably the turp and DMSO mix! Then it spilled onto his arm, and-" I was so excited I could barely finish the sentence. "Then he died!" I finally stuttered out. Probably not the smoothest sentence, but I knew with unwavering certainty that I was right.

Kairi pushed up his glasses. "We've found our killer."

Yuki was silent for a second. Then, the creepiest smile crossed her face. "Yes, that's right. I killed him. And I don't regret it at all."

"You're sick!" I shouted. "Even if he did something bad to you, it is never okay to kill someone like that! It wasn't for justice, just your own personal revenge."

"Shut up!" She snarled, and snatched me up by the throat. I choked, struggling against her grip. "You have no idea how horrible he was."

"Everyone, we found out something-" Nagihiko rounded the corner and came in, only to stop at the sight in front of him. It must've looked quite scary, since Yuki had me in the air with both hands around my throat. I was clawing and kicking, and making some pretty bad choking noises.

"Too late!" Yuki spat. "You're going to tell them about my history, right? About how my dad used to work for him? About how my dad accidentally found out some scandal, and paid for it with his life?"

Her voice caught a bit. "About how that building he was in caught on fire? About how it was the business man who set it off?"

She clenched me tighter, and my arms dropped to my sides.

Her voice was full of sadness, and she sounded broken. Insane. "I lost everything that day. My father was gone. My mother went crazy. What was I to do? No job. No money. I had lost two people I loved."

"I worked for this day. I swore that sick man would pay for what he did. I planned everything out carefully, down to the storm." She spoke softly, but her grip was anything put. I was quickly running out of air.

"Help-" I gasped, but she kneed me in the stomach.

"And now you've all found out. You won't tell anybody, unless you don't want little Rima back." Her voice had regained it's creepiness and hard tone.

Black spots were dancing across my vision, and I was about to faint, when-

_Whack._

Yuki fell to the ground, unconscious, her fingers loosening against my neck. I pried them off and rolled into a ball, gasping for air and rubbing my throat. I lifted my head to see the most beautiful thing.

Amu, in her ridiculous cheerleader outfit, was holding her Heart Rod above her head. She had evidently hit Yuki in the back of the head.

"Couldn't-you have-done that-sooner?" I gasped out. She dropped her rod and rushed to me, hugging me.

"Oh, Rima, are you all right?" She asked, worried. I nodded, holding up a finger.

"Just a sec." By now, everyone seemed to have come out of his or her initial shock Nagihiko ran over to me, and everyone else followed. Kukai cuffed Yuki and dragged her away, while Ikuto came back with Natsume in tow. He was unconscious, and had several suspicious claw marks in his suit.

A short while later, it was daybreak. As I saw cops lead Yuki away, a twinge of sadness tugged at my heart.

It was so sad to think that people like her existed. So sad to think that they became twisted because other twisted people had made them that way. I wished that Amu could just perform an Open Heart on Yuki and wash all the darkness inside her soul away.

It used to be like that, when we were Seiyo Guardians. When our biggest problem was some candy throwing kid with confused dreams. Or when our biggest fight was against a certain rosette loving cat boy with a weird violin.

I hate growing up.

Then, suddenly, the scene vanished, and we were standing in a large room.

"Fuko!" I shrieked.

"Yes?" Her voice sounded behind me, and I turned, startled.

Then I glared. "So none of this was real?"

She shrugged. "Yes? No? I don't know. No one really died, if that's what you mean. But this was a real scenario back in the 1900's. Something like this really did happen, but this was only a simulation to test your deductions skills."

She smiled. "And I'm happy to say you passed."

"Thank god!" Utau groaned, still cradling her cheek. "If it was fake, why does my chin still hurt so much?"

Fuko laughed apologetically. "One of the control operators got a little carried away."

We all laughed for a bit, then slumped from fatigue. "I don't exactly have a prize to give you, but I can say one thing." Fuko told us. "Why don't you rest for a bit?"

That sounded better than anything else in the world.

* * *

***I actually was not trying to make a reference to Natsume Yuujinchou. I originally chose the name Leiko, meaning arrogance, for the haughty woman, but Reiko just looked so much prettier. **

****I don't know if you can get arrested for trying to kill a dead body. Apologies if I'm wrong.**

**Damn. These chapters just keep getting longer.**

**Also, thank you so so so much for 100 reviews! (102, actually :D) I'm so glad you guys like this story, and I'm really sorry for not updating sooner D: I didn't really know how to go about writing this and I hope I did okay ;_;**

**Anyways, you know what this means? Omake time! Also, I'm kind of debating on something. I want to hold a contest or something, or write a fanfic on how to write a fanfic. So I'm wondering which one I should do, or if I should just do one first and then the other when I reach 150 reviews (if.)**

**The contest rules would be simple. Basically, you just have to leave a good review. Length isn't super important, but it should be honest. Try to include constructive criticism( try to be nice, I'm an egotistical person ;_;) what you liked, what you didn't like (specifics!) And cookies. Specify which kind. (Kidding.) What should the prize be? A shugo chara oneshot, requested? (No M-Rated stuff.)**

**Then the fanfic would be titled "The Art of Writing a Shugo Chara Fanfic!" With my tips and personal rules. You could check it out for fun, but obviously you don't have to swear by it. I don't even know if I'm qualified to be teaching D: But yeah.** **Maybe I'll write it from some of the character's perspectives? That could be fun.**

**Actually I've decided (haha sorry I'm weird like that) the contest starts now! It is ongoing until the end of the double update (which might take a while.) I'll have the omake up really soon, and write the how-to fanfic at 150. Please enter the contest, and comment what you think the prize should be! (Writing-related. Or reading.)**

**Sorry for this super long A/N. Next chapter will be the omake and review replies! Unless you'd rather I PM?**


	24. Video Games

**Note: AU. Meaning, no Fuko, no Nade, no trials, and Rima's parents are her own. She hasn't really figured out she likes Nagi yet, but she has a feeling. They are all at Nagihiko's house. Summertime, I guess.**

* * *

Omake 2~ Video Games

"Die, you little-!" I paused and watched my character fall off the platform. The word 'WINNER' flashed across the screen for about the thirteenth time, declaring to the entire world that Nagihiko Fujisaki was better at video games than I.

There was a slight silence in which Fujisaki's smugness almost overwhelmed the atmosphere. Everyone held his or her breath as I uttered a single word, my clear monotone breaking the smug force field around the Evil One.

"Rematch."

Everyone let out his or her breath in a groan. "This is the fifteenth time, Rima-tan!" Yaya whined. I shot her a glare from where I sat on the floor, in front of the T.V. She and everyone else were draped on the couch behind us.

"Did I ask you to recount how many times I failed? I can't possibly be worse than stupid Fujisaki. I have to prove it." She shrunk back a bit, obviously scared by my DeathGlare ™. I turned back to the Fujisakis' massive T.V. in satisfaction, before the image of Nagihiko's character jumping up and down in victory pissed me off all over again.

"You can try as many times as you want, Rima-chan, but I'm afraid I'll always win." The Evil One stated cheerfully, smiling in that oh-so-kind way of his.

Oh no. I was _so _not fooled by that pretty smile, or the large, warm brown eyes, the innocent tilt of the head, nor that silky purple hair sliding across his shoulders… Come to think of it, I _did _like the shirt he was wearing. It kind of showed off his collarbone, and-

Rima! Damn, girl! What the hell are you thinking?

_Hormones,_ I decided. _After all, I'm a teenage girl. It's natural that I notice things like that about guys._

_Yeah, but_, Inner Devil Rima started to say. _You don't think things like that about Kukai, or Tadase, or Ikuto, or Kirishima, or-_

I decided to concentrate on the task at hand instead of torturing myself trying to figure out my estrogen levels.

"Let's start." I turned away from Nagihiko, expression deadpan. Hopefully, I hadn't blushed during my weird train of thought.

Utau was on the couch behind us too, but I could just hear her roll her eyes. "My god. Kukai, I'm hungry. Let's go eat some ramen."

Her boyfriend obviously agreed, and there went the two of them, out the door, but- crap! Dodge! Dodge the fucking lightning bolt! Okay, Rima. Safe.

Amu seemed to consider for a moment. "Well, I'm hungry too. Why don't we all go get lunch?"

Yaya, Tadase, and Kairi chimed agreement. Then they went out the door, too. Except I didn't care, so- whoa shit! That was close.

Ikuto said something about having to do something, but I only vaguely heard him. I was intensely trying to dodge Fujisaki's attacks when- _Wait. Is everyone gone? Does that mean I'm stuck here with him? With the Evil One? Wait, that means-_

"We're alone!" I gasped, startled. Nagihiko took advantage of my momentary lapse in concentration and pushed me off the platform.

"No shit, Rima-chan." He said happily. "I win. Again."

"Damn you!" I cursed at him and glared. "Rematch."

He got up and stretched. "Why don't you practice on your own for like three minutes? I'm going to get us some sandwiches from the fridge."

"Hey, wait-" I started, about to tell him that I didn't need his fucking sandwich, but he was already halfway through the kitchen door.

I grumbled, but turned back to the screen. I started a single player level and died within fifteen seconds. I glared at the T.V. and switched the hardness level down to Normal. Then I started to play again.

I had several close calls, and finally fell off a cliff. I pressed retry when I suddenly felt fingers covering my own.

"Like this, Rima. Jump here." A finger pressed down on my own, which in turn pressed on the jump button, saving my character's life. Fujisaki's kind voice sounded next to my ear, and in the corner of my vision, I saw strands of purple hair draping next to me. I looked up, and immediately wished I hadn't when I was provided with a close-up of his flawless face.

Seriously. This guy NEVER gets pimples. It only made me feel more self-conscious about the one that had appeared on my forehead yesterday. It wasn't really noticeable, but compared to Fujisaki's entirely smooth skin mine was second-rate.

Also, his ochre eyes up close, focused on the T.V. screen, sort of glowed. And melted. And they were just-

Oh, shut _up,_ Rima. I get it. The guy's perfect.

_Well, _Inner Sad Rima started to say, _that's why a guy like him won't ever really like someone like me. Maybe I'm a person he hangs out with, but someone he cares about, a lot? Maybe not… and definitely not something more than a friend._

Pfft. Like I cared.

"Rima, watch out!" He said, startling me out of my thoughts. I looked back at the screen and narrowly avoided being killed. Nagihiko helping, of course.

I thought about shaking him off, but decided that I wanted to finish the game. A short while later, I had finally passed the level. A huge smile spread across my face.

"I did it!" I exclaimed happily. He laughed.

"Yeah, you did."

Then he was quiet for a second. I glanced at him quizzically, trying to ignore the thoughts that had surfaced a moment ago. _It kind of… hurts._

Then his lips lifted into a heartbreaking smile. "You're pretty when you smile." He told me. Just like that. And then he was gone, disappearing into the bathroom. "Eat the sandwich if you want."

I gaped for a little bit, but then a grin was tugging strangely at my own lips. It was plastered on my face and wouldn't go away.

"Stupid Fujisaki, trying to mess with me…" I punched a pillow. But the stupid smile stayed.

_'You're pretty when you smile…'_

* * *

**Promised omake, delivered! Sorry, I wanted to put it up sooner, but my computer died on me and I was stuck without a charger for a couple of days. Review Replies sent by PM! Please tell me if you didn't get one.**

**Contest Rules (Restated, in case you didn't want to read the giant passage in the last chapter)**

**1) Basically, leave the best review! Length isn't of too much much importance, but it should include a: Constructive Criticism (please be specific!) b: What you liked and disliked (again, specifics) and try to be honest.**

**2) The prize is undecided. You can request the prize, as long as it has to do with writing and reading and does not have anything M rated to do with it. The deadline is either when I reach 150 reviews, or by the time I post the double-update, which ever comes later.**

**Thank you! Stay tuned and I love you :)**

**~Sea**


	25. Recoup 2: The Influence Strikes

**Long but important A/N at the bottom. Please do read.**

* * *

Chapter 23~ Recoup #2: The Influence Strikes

"It hurts!" Yaya wailed. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"We know, Yaya." Nagihiko said in a soothing voice. "It'll be over soon."

I watched with slight exasperation as she rolled around in pain. The past few days, we had been resting in the facility, provided with entertainment and everything we needed. It was a welcome break, and was fun, up until somebody fell over in pain from the Influence.

So far, everybody had been through first pain. Utau and Amu were past second, and third couldn't be far behind for them. The others had been slowly transitioning into second. Nagihiko and I were still the only fully evolved ones, and Ikuto and Kairi were still stuck on first, not yet near second.

Everybody had been running to us and whining about how it hurt. Honestly, I sympathized at first, but after about four people, I snapped. Why should we know how to deal with it? The only advice I could give them was 'Suck it up.'

Yaya flickered for a moment, parts of her disappearing. My eyes widened in panic. I hoped she wasn't dying. I rushed forward and caught her as she collapsed, breathing heavily. She seemed normal.

"That hurt." She opened her eyes and whimpered. I rolled my own eyes.

"I know. It's over. Now you'll just have to wait until third!" I attempted to be cheerful, but Nagihiko later informed me that I had only scared her.

I heard a distant wail and footsteps, and groaned as yet another one came crying.

* * *

"So far, we only know for sure two of our powers. I have Silkentongue, and you are a fire Elemental." Nagihiko was making an inventory on a piece of paper.

"Also, Utau and Amu have been through second pain and are almost at third. Some abnormalities while they have transformed are that Amu almost seemed inhuman, and Utau's glares seemed fiercer. It is possibly that Amu can turn into some kind of superhuman without charas, and Utau could have mind control."

He looked down at the paper. "Yaya flickered. Perhaps invisibility? I couldn't tell about Kukai. Tadase, either. Nadeshiko is obviously a robot, and Ikuto and Kairi have yet to go through second."

I rolled my eyes again. "Okay, Mr. Inventory. Are you done yet?"

He gave me an offended look. "I'm trying to help."

"And I'm trying to enjoy my ice cream!" I retorted. "Your voice is nauseating me."

He laughed, rather than being insulted like I had intended. "That really warms my heart, Rima."

"I'm glad." I fired back sarcastically. Then I turned back to my ice cream and T.V. show.

Amu stuck her head in my doorway. We each got separate rooms, although we spent most of our time in one of the lounges. Nagihiko had intruded in mine to give me his long speech.

"Dinner's ready!" She sang, eyeing me with an 'oooh' kind of look. She obviously thought something was up between Nagi and I. Was I so obvious that even oblivious Amu could tell?

I tried to ignore that thought as I hopped off the bed and walked out the door with her. Nagihiko followed, holding his sheets of paper. I swear, he has like an entire binder on the thing. I wondered where he put it. I'd have to go into his room to look later.

And no, it's NOT just an excuse to see him. Really.

Dinner was delicious, but sadly ruined by Kairi's painful transition into second. I turned around to Fuko, slightly annoyed. "Isn't there any way you can make them feel better?"

She looked amused and sympathetic at the same time. "I don't think so. I would if I could, but just like period cramps, they'll have to wait it out."

Everyone stopped short at her comparison.

"You can take Advil for those." Utau muttered sarcastically under her breath, then blushed as we all turned to her. Loads of eavesdropping on Easter in our guardian days had really honed our hearing.

Kukai awkwardly cleared his throat. "Well. I guess there's just Ikuto left, right?"

Said blue-haired fucking seven feet tall (okay, I'm exaggerating, but he's really, really tall) frowned. "I don't really look forward to it. All of you guys have been crying your guts out all day."

"Tell me about it!" I threw my hands in the air, and everyone who had transitioned glanced at me apologetically.

Amu stifled a laugh. "I'm going to shower. Have fun eating, guys!"

I pushed myself away from the table. "Same here. Enjoy the food."

We both walked back to our rooms. Hers came before mine in the hallway, and when she stopped to open her door, I stopped as well.

"Hey, Amu…" I paused hesitantly as she turned back with a curious expression.

"Yes?" She asked, demeanor as friendly as ever. I swallowed with the thought of what I was about to ask.

No, really. What was I doing? What was I thinking? _Was_ I even thinking? Of all people, I was about to ask Hinamori Amu for crush advice.

_Amu. _Girl's been stuck in a convoluted love triangle for five fucking years. I'd be better off asking Utau, who actually had a definite boyfriend. Hell, I'd be better off asking Yaya!

But Amu was my best friend, and when it comes to best friends and girls, all logic gets thrown out the window.

"Is it really obvious that I l-li-li- don't dislike Nagi?" I chickened a bit and couldn't bring myself to say 'like'. Amu blinked innocently, then exploded.

"WHAT?!"

She rushed over and patted my forehead. "You're not sick or something, right?"

I glared. "Stop teasing me. I know you know. I saw that look you gave me today."

She cracked up. "I know, I know. It's just that you've never admitted it." Then she grinned this scary out of character grin. "And Rima, it's so obvious that even Nadeshiko caught it. And she's a _robot_."

I raised my eyebrows. "Amu, should you be talking? It's all obvious to _us_ who you should choose, but you still don't get it yourself. And it's been five years. We all knew from the start!"

She blushed and stammered. "I-I-I don't really know w-what y-you're talking about!"

I threw her a 'seriously' look. "Let me give you a hint. It starts with an I…" I sidled up to her and whispered mischievously in her ear. "…and ends with kut-"

"STOP!" She screeched, flushing. "I don't want to know!"

I shook my head and tsk-d. "You're an open book, Amu."

She rolled her eyes, trying to regain her cool and spicy attitude. "Whatever. You know, there's someone denser than me. And that would be your little crush."

I laughed. "How is he dense? I'd say he's sharper than most."

She smiled. "Yeah, about most things. But when it comes to your undying love for him-" I blushed. "-the boy's got no idea."

"Well, he wouldn't care anyways." I muttered, so quiet that Amu didn't hear me. "Thanks for the advice." I said, in a normal voice. A hint of sarcasm colored the words.

She snickered. "No problem, Rima. Thanks for the_ hint_." She tried to keep calm, but to no avail. Her face was red as a tomato.

I laughed, and she did too. She waved goodbye and I continued on to my room, where I discovered that Fuko and the people who had bothered me all day had left a collection of gag manga to thank me and apologize.

Hmph. I supposed that I could forgive them.

And it's not about the manga. It's the thought that counts.

Oh, who am I kidding? I'm going to be up all night reading them.

Just then, Nagihiko burst into my room, once again intruding. This time, he carried the binder. Well, saves me the trouble of trying to find it. I've discovered that he hides things disconcertingly well.

It's probably because of Nadeshiko.

Anyways, he plopped the huge file on my bed. I looked up, annoyed. (Or pretended to be. He somehow looked extremely good today. Or everyday.) He smiled nicely. "Rima-chan, you'll sort this with me, won't you?"

First off, he usually never calls me Rima-chan anymore. We've all been through so much that honorifics are way too formal and unnecessary.

Secondly, he was smiling a way too sweet and innocent smile.

Third of all, let's not forget the actual request.

"No way!" My mouth dropped open. "Don't come here being all friendly only to try and get me to touch that giant thing!"

"Come on!" He begged. "It's going to take me all night to read through all this information on the Influence. Fuko gave it to us."

Huh. I was wrong, then. He hadn't made the scarily large binder. Fuko had. And it was about the Influence.

"There might be something about you, Rima. And about your parents." He pressed on, knowing that the last sentence would win me over. I sighed, setting down my manga.

"Fine."

* * *

About four hours later, Nagihiko and I had read every single word in that huge binder. Most of it was frustratingly useless, stating long versions of what we already knew. But there were a few things that interested us.

The first was a different take on the Influence. There were tons of thesis' and theories written by scientists, philosophers, even mathematicians. Some called the Influence "amazing" "the future of mankind" "a blessing and miracle" and more great stuff. But some said that the Influence was "evil" and "the work of the Devil."

The thesis we were concerned with had a more neutral perspective of the Influence. But it had, so far, the most accurate analysis of the Influence.

I called up Amu using the room phone (she was kind of pissed that I had woken her up at three AM) and told her to gather everybody in my room. A few minutes later, the rest of the gang shuffled in, half asleep and irritated.

As everyone collapsed on either my sofa or the carpet, I cleared my throat and started reading.

"The Influence is like a disease. Contagious, painful, and when the process is over, a change in your system has occurred. Differences lie in the fact that only certain people can catch it, and what they do with it depends on the user, not their immune system. It is not the Influence that is evil, but the person who uses it for such. It is not the Influence that is a hero, or the future of mankind, but the one who has utilized it in such a way."

"The Influence is, most simply, a tool. A tool that mankind, has for some reason, developed. Like the antibodies forming in your immune system to ward of illness, the Influence is a fighter. A warrior. Born to combat something yet unknown. It is indeed a versatile tool, able to be used in various ways. These uses may also be the reason for its existence. But it is the threat of the unknown that we should now, concern ourselves with, before it is too late."

"With these points in mind, let us explore the possibilities. The Influence can be a disease, ridding mankind of its glorious future. Or perhaps it was a fluke, and now there are more because they need to fight each other. And the third and final, and most important possibility is that there is another disease out there. That the Influence is actually the antidote, meant to fight something unknown, and is more dangerous than we realize."

I sighed. "Basically, since the Influence showed up, we're all screwed."

Nagihiko was lying on my bed; face up, holding another copy of the thesis above him. He threw me a look. "Not exactly, Rima."

He sat up. "The author is telling us what he thinks the Influence is, and why it exists. Essentially, there are three reasons."

"The first occurs when the Influence takes on the role of the disease. Mankind has somehow become too evolved, and the Influence has appeared to those stronger, or those who have Shugo Chara, so that they may use the power for destruction. The role of the disease."

He held up two fingers. "The second reason is directly linked to the first. He's saying that maybe the Influence appeared as a mistake, but once people started using it for their personal gain and for evil, more Influences had to be born in order to stop them."

"And the third reason, the one the author considers most important and dangerous, is that the Influence can be a solution. An antidote to a problem that has not yet been identified. He believes this problem to be dangerous and a definite threat, if something such as the Influence, a totally new evolution, has appeared. After all, what could possibly be bad enough that supernatural powers show up to help defend against it?"

Everyone stared for a while, dumbfounded at the sophisticated explanation. Only Kairi and Ikuto didn't seem fazed at the complicated analysis. Because Kairi's super smart and Ikuto's no dumbass, either, and an adult besides.

"So, what else?" Utau asked after a long silence. I cleared my throat and pointed to a small chart.

"Ever heard of Newton's three laws?" I asked.

Amu rolled her eyes. "Of course. We learned it in eighth grade." Her cool and spicy front had arrived, brought on by her irritation that it was so early.

Yaya blinked innocently. "Eh? But Amu-chi told Yaya that she failed that unit!" Amu's eyes widened and she slapped a hand over Yaya's mouth, blushing. Everyone stared at her pointedly.

I stifled a laugh. "Yeah, well, Newton's third law explains something about the Influence. Action, reaction. His laws apply to motion, but this one also applies to the Influence."

I ran my fingers through my hair. "For each and every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. For example, my power is fire. The action would be me using this power. The reaction takes place in my own body. It's possible for me to burn myself out, literally, if I use too much of my power."

"But the reaction differs in everybody. It's hard to define what the 'opposite' would be. In Nagihiko's situation, his power is something akin to mind control. Since he obviously isn't affected by his power when he's using it, the reaction happens elsewhere."

"While he's using his power, his own mind is more susceptible and easier to control. Whereas it might've been hard to possess him at a normal time, it would be easy to slip into his body while he's using his power."

I shuffled through some papers. "Another example they give is paralysis. If one has the power to paralyze people, they are only as strong as their will. Basically, if the person they are trying to paralyze has a stronger will and refuses the power, the paralysis is useless."

Everyone nodded, and Nagihiko looked miffed. "How come you understand her and not me?"

I stuck out my tongue at him. "Use the word 'basically'. It helps." He laughed.

"Next?" Utau prompted, impatiently. Nagihiko unfolded a large piece of paper. He gestured for me to speak.

"According to this chart, the types of Influences are split into three. Destructive, Constructive, and Intrusive. The first two are pretty self-explanatory. But, as with all Influences, it's subjective. Fire, like mine, is destructive, but can be beneficial if I choose to use it like that. A healer or a water elemental is usually good, but if you get creative, you can seriously whoop some asses." I explained.

Kukai laughed. "You sounded so knowledgeable until you used the phrase 'whoop some asses'."

I gave a small curtsy before continuing. "Lastly is Intrusive. It's rather neutral, not really having a good or bad foundation. But it usually deals with the mind or physical change. X-ray vision, mind control, paralysis, and Nagi's Silkentongue are all examples of this. Then there's intrusion onto yourself and your own DNA, such as shape shifting or invisibility."

Nagihiko pointed to the chart, where there were small sections on each known power. "My guess is that we document any new powers we might come across as we develop. Anyone want to be in charge of that?"

Nadeshiko reached for the paper. "I'll do it. I have perfect memory."

I nodded. "Thanks, then."

She turned to the group. "By the way, Fuko says that the next trial is tomorrow. Or rather, today, since it's way past midnight. She'll give us the info when we meet in the training room at eight."

Amu got up and stretched. "Well, I guess that means we better go sleep, huh? We're going to need our energy."

I agreed. "Yeah, get back to your rooms." I stared pointedly at Nagihiko as everyone shuffled out the door. "And you included. Get off my bed because I sure as hell am not sleeping with you."

Kukai and Ikuto obviously thought that this sentence carried perverted intentions and burst out laughing. I greeted their amusement with a kick.

Nagi chuckled as he gathered the papers in the binders. "I wouldn't dream of it, Rima. See you."

I yawned and waved goodbye, tucking myself in as he turned off the lights for me.

The pillow kind of smells like him.

That was incredibly sappy, wasn't it?

* * *

"Why the hell is she dressed like that?" Amu asked out of the corner of her mouth.

I shrugged, fascinated by Fuko's weirdness. She was currently pacing back and forth in front of us, having lined us up in a row. She was wearing a military uniform, hair tucked into a cap, and walking stiffly with her hands behind her back.

Ikuto seemed to realize the implications. "Oh dear lord, she's a cosplayer!"

He said this a little too loud and Fuko directed her attention to him. Then she grinned an overly friendly grin. "Why, yes! It's just so much fun. Would you like to try? Maybe a maid uniform? Oh, a kitty maid!"

That shut him up as he paled. Amu was straining to hold back laughter.

Fuko stopped pacing. "Anyways, this next trial is very simple. Or… is it?"

Her pause for dramatic effect had absolutely no effect. We blankly stared at her, but she didn't seem bothered by our lack of enthusiasm.

"It's a series of riddles. When the trial starts, each of you will get a scroll leading you to your partner or group. Then you will eventually go your separate paths. There are several prizes, but you have to determine which one is the correct one and how to get there. Each path differs. If you truly work well together and think as one, you'll end up in the same place."

The training room shimmered, and was replaced by a huge forest, trees towering overhead. A long, wide path lay ahead of us. Fuko disappeared, with a wave and, "Good luck."

I picked up the scroll at my feet that had just appeared. Unfurling it, I read the riddle with a furrowed brow. Everyone else picked theirs up and started studying them. "Titanic is a lovely name, as is the character Rose. If one has locks of same name, would she be as lovely?"

I glared at the paper. "What the hell?"

Nagihiko, who was beside me, glanced over. "I've got the same one. We're partners, but the riddle leads to our third member."

We both thought about it. "It's a decoy. It's not about the Titanic, it's about the Rose. Locks… is there a key?" Nagi mused out loud.

Since I was rather short, whenever I looked straight at Nagihiko without looking up, like I was doing now, I ended up staring straight at his hair. Wait, which was it!

"Locks! Of hair!" I exclaimed. He looked startled.

"You're right! There's that interpretation as well."

"'Of same name'. So, rose locks of hair?"

He smirked. "Well, we only know one rosette."

Everyone had kind of scattered around the 'room' at this point, so we located Amu and walked over to her. "We're your partners!" I told her. She had been staring dumbly at her riddle, but looked up and hastily rolled it when she heard me.

"Uh…" She said, flushing. I frowned.

"What does the riddle say?" I asked. If our riddle led us to her, then hers should've contained a clue about either Nagihiko or I.

Nagihiko gently took it from her, and her face panicked. He unrolled it, took one look, and burst out laughing. He laughed so hard he dropped the scroll.

I snatched it as Amu dove, desperate to keep me from reading it. I opened it and my mouth dropped. There was a single word printed in the middle.

_Midget._

"NOT FUNNY, FUKO!" Chibi-fire flamed in my eyes. I swore I heard a giggle coming from the trees. I turned back to Amu, who looked amused and scared at the same time. Nagihiko was _still _laughing.

"But how did you not figure it out? I'm the shortest one here, so it should've been obvious." I scolded. She looked flustered.

"Well, what did you want me to do? 'Hey, Rima, my riddle says "Midget" so I instantly came to you!'" She asked defensively. "You would've killed me."

The three of us pondered her imitation for a moment, and then dissolved into laughter. It was somehow insanely hilarious.

Kairi coughed. "If you're done, we should get moving."

Amu and Nagihiko shut up, and my gaze became stony. The other groups were gathered by now. _Who the hell put Kukai with Kairi?_

Kukai and Kairi, the unlikely pair, were a group. Nadeshiko was alone. Amu, Nagihiko, and I were another group, while Ikuto and Tadase, the childhood friends, were a group. Lastly, Yaya and Utau (again, whose idea was this?!) were together.

We set off on the one path. We mingled, so it was hard to tell who was with whom. After about fifteen minutes of walking (mostly in silence) we came upon five different paths. There was a scroll placed at each of the paths' entrances.

Kairi studied them. "My guess is that each scroll tells you which group goes where. Now we have to split up."

Nadeshiko read each of them with lightning speed, then pointed to the path on the far right. "This is where I go. I know the answers to each of the riddles, so just think of me as the answer key. There is a checkpoint midway, where, if you get the riddles right, we should all converge before separating again."

Before any of us could even say anything, she had taken off running down the road.

I sighed, and then looked at the scroll closet to me. "Let's start."

Just then, Ikuto collapsed.

* * *

**Yes, I'm alive. And yes, I'm so sorry for not updating. But there a few things I would like to say.**

**1) I had this and the next chapter written on my phone since I was busy the past two weeks and only wrote when I could. Then it all got deleted. You have no idea how frustrated I was, and how angry I was. Since then, I haven't exactly had much time, either, but I managed to rewrite this. I'm currently working on rewriting the next chapter, so that should come soon. Sorry, no double-update.**

**2) I know the long paragraphs in this chapter are annoying, but many of you have asked about the Influence. I promised it was coming, and it's here. So if you want to understand it, read them.**

**3) At 150 reviews, I will start writing a fanfiction on how to write a fanfiction. A how-to guide. You're welcome. (Haha no i'm just trying to help, but it's only my strange opinion and unprofessional tips. If you like how I write, or respect my writing, feel free to read it to see how I do it.)**

**4) If you would like you can check out my new Rimahiko story, How To Be a Guy (and Fail). It's about Rima going to boarding school and rooming with Nagihiko. but she has to pretend to be a guy. Yay.**

**Stay tuned, and I love you. Review?**

**~Sea**


	26. Trial 7: Definition of Courage

**Long A/N, but please read!**

* * *

Chapter 24: Trial #7~ Definition of Courage

"Oh, there he goes," I noted nonchalantly. "Amu, go help him."

She rushed forward and basically glomped him, frantically rubbing his back. "Ikuto, are you okay?"

He gave a little cough and stopped writhing. I noticed a small wisp of something dark escaping from him and rising into the air, then disappearing. "What was that?" I heard Kukai ask in a worried tone.

"An indication of his Influence, most likely," Kairi pushed his glasses up. Ikuto stood up shakily, with Amu helping him. Tadase's eyebrow quirked slightly, but he didn't say anything.

"Let's get going," I said, after giving Ikuto a moment to recover. "Let's all read a scroll and try to figure out who it corresponds to."

Nagihiko and I bent over at the same time to grab the scroll near us, and bumped heads. "Ow," he muttered. "That hurt."

I glared. "Idiot."

Shrugging off my insult, he picked it up and opened it, then read it aloud. "All's fair in love and war."

"Ikuto and Tadase," we all chorused, and Tadase sweat dropped. Ikuto looked indifferent, but also somewhat pleased.

"This way, please," Utau said in the voice of a flight attendant, smiling playfully. The teasing tone in her voice caused the two of them (and Amu, of course,) to blush.

Ikuto took the scroll and went down the path the scroll had been laying on, Tadase following closely behind. As they passed me I heard Tadase murmur, "You win."

I gaped inwardly. Had nobody else heard that? Had I even heard correctly? Did Tadase just concede defeat after all these years? HAD NO ONE HEARD IT?

Damn. I'd have to interrogate him about that later.

Kukai picked a scroll up. "Life's a race, and love's a chase." He paused.

"Dude, that's literally you and Utau's relationship," I said pointedly. "So it's either your group or Utau's."

Utau started blushing and stammering (uh, tsundere, anyone?) while Kukai let out a hearty laugh. "Yeah, I guess you're right. There's more, though. 'Giant dogs and aliens with umbrellas and that glasses character. And of course, can't forget the troublemaker!'"

He frowned. "Uh, what?"

"Gintama!" I cried. Everyone stared and I scowled. "Have none of you watched that anime? It's fucking awesome!"

More stares.

I waved my hand dismissively. "Oh, whatever. It's about samurai. So that's Kairi. Off you guys go!"

"Of course." Once again, push of the glasses. Then the two of them set off, and I realized surprisingly that they might actually be a good team. There wasn't much they could fight about, and their abilities worked flawlessly together.

I glanced back at my own team. My two best friends. I couldn't say the same, since Nagihiko and I would surely disagree, and Amu would take one of our sides. But I knew that they were more loyal than anyone, so it was okay.

I picked up the next scroll. "Uh, this one says…"

A vein popped in my forehead. "AGAIN, FUKO?!"

The word 'Midget' was once again prominently displayed in the middle of the page, and I glared up at the trees. "I'm not a midget! I'm fun-sized! Vertically challenged! Great things come in small packages!"

Nagihiko patted the top of my head. I'm sad to say he didn't have to raise his hand up far for that. "You just keep telling yourself that, Rima."

"Why do I feel like we've had this conversation before?" I muttered irritably. He laughed.

"We probably have. After all, your height is of optimal importance in our lives." He said wisely.

"Stop using big words and let's go." I smacked his arm, and then pulled Amu along by the hand. Nagihiko laughed again (why is he so happy?) and followed us.

We left Utau and Yaya to go down the last path (obviously) and speed walked. We didn't want to run, but the road seemed long.

"Oh, screw it." I muttered. "Clown Drop!" Instantly, my outfit shimmered on, and for the first time, I realized that my clothes had a metallic sheen to them, due to the Influence.

Floating up, I zoomed forward, feeling free flying in the air. I avoided the trees by swerving around them, tugging on my ropes to control where I went.

Amu rose up behind me as Amulet Heart. Nagihiko was bouncing along in the air (haha, gay), transformed as Beat Jumper.

I kept an eye on the path below us, noting that it went on straight for a while. After maybe four minutes of flying, a fork in the path appeared. I slowed and drifted towards the ground, touching down lightly.

There were three scrolls. One in the left entrance, one on the right entrance, and one was directly in the middle. I picked up the middle one first.

"The one you seek holds all the keys," I read out loud. "What does that mean?"

"It's probably talking about the prize that we want right now. She said there were going to be several prizes, right? And then we had to choose which ones were right." Nagihiko reasoned.

"So each of these scrolls will tell us of a prize, and we have to determine which one we want by the clue you just read out loud, and then go down that corresponding path." He finished.

"Let's read them, then." Amu agreed, picking up the one on the left. "I bind and shackle, but a pendant dangles on me. What am I?"

There were five dash marks under the riddle, probably one for each letter.

There was silence for a while. "Rope?" Nagihiko tried, but I shook my head.

"That's only four letters." I pointed out.

"Handcuffs... no." Amu murmured.

"Chains!" Nagihiko snapped. "They bind and shackle, and they can have pendants on them and be necklaces, right?"

I nodded. "But we have to modify it as 'chain' so it fits the five letter criteria. Someone have a pen?"

Evidently, Fuko could hear us, because a random pen materialized right in front of me and dropped. I dove for it, but missed and landed in the dirt instead. I twitched.

"Well that's convenient," I muttered sarcastically and Nagihiko gracefully bent over and scooped up the pen. "Stupid Fuko."

Nagi quickly penned in the word 'chain', and the letters somehow glowed blue and then faded back to the regular color. We looked at it, and then exchanged glances. "I guess that means we're right," Amu shrugged.

I picked up the next scroll. "I pull the tides and I rise high. What am I?" Four dash marks.

"Moon." Nagihiko said immediately, before Amu and I had even processed the riddle. I glared. "Top in Science, remember? I'm sure you can recall the whole colorblind episode and all." He smirked.

I blushed, remembering the whole tutoring incident. How he said I would fall for him. God, that seemed like such a long time ago. In reality, it was probably only a month or two ago. So many things had happened.

"Uh, Rima?" A hand waved across my face and I jerked backwards. Amu pointed to the paper, where a blue glow was fading around the word 'moon'. We were right again.

"So we know our two prizes." I said thoughtfully. "Now we just have to decide which one is right."

"The one you seek holds all the keys." Nagihiko repeated. "What does that mean?"

"It's chain, right?" Amu asked, confidently. "Like a keychain. Those hold keys, don't they?" I nodded, and Nagihiko wrote down the word 'key' right in front of the word 'chain'.

Then something strange happened. The other two scrolls completely disappeared, disintegrating into thin air. The scroll Nagihiko was holding began to fade in color and gray lines appeared. Soon enough, he was holding a translucent piece of paper, with dark grey lines in a maze pattern.

I was so focused on the paper I almost didn't realize what was happening around us. "What the h-" Nagihiko started to say, but stopped as two huge slabs of gray rock slammed down around us. "-ell." He finished weakly.

I gently tugged the paper away, being careful not to tear it. "It looks like a maze." I glanced up around me. The forest was still there, but the path behind us had disappeared. A letter carved itself in the dirt in front of us. S.

I watched as the same letter appeared at the entrance of the maze on the paper.

It stood for start. I assumed that far away, at the end of the actual maze, the letter 'F' had been drawn on the ground, for the same letter appeared at the exit of the maze on the paper. Finish.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is a giant maze, right?" Amu said, after a small pause. "And again, correct me if I'm wrong, but this is creepy as hell, right?"

"Yeah, to both of them." Nagihiko agreed. "There isn't even any epic music like in the animes." He was right. The silence was buzzing and made it all the more unnerving. And then, on cue, music, epic and suspenseful, started booming in the background. I glared at the sky.

"It's too late, Fuko! The maze already appeared, so if this were an anime, it would now be silent." The music shut up and my eyes narrowed. "What's up with her? She's so compliant with our demands. Telling us if we're right and all. Even playing our fucking background music."

The truth of what I had just said kept us quiet for a moment. And then, trying to be optimistic, I said, "The maze doesn't seem too hard! Who has a pencil?"

At least I caught it this time.

Nagihiko traced his finger along the path, and I absentmindedly penciled it in after him. Amu was chewing on her fingernails, a habit that she had painstakingly stopped, but apparently had started up again.

The maze was now a map. We walked into the giant stone maze, turning this way and that. Soon enough, we were staring down at an 'F' in the dirt.

This was strange. Something about all of it was just off. "Hey, look at this!" Amu called. She pointed to something lying on the ground not far away. "It's a keychain." Nagihiko picked it up and shook off the dirt, and then pocketed it.

I whirled around as the maze disappeared with a bang. Behind us, there was only a single path, with no sign of it having ever been a fork.

"Creepy." I muttered. The other two nodded their agreement. With a sigh, I poofed into Clown Drop and took to the skies, Amu and Nagihiko not far behind.

We basically repeated the process four more times. Each time, we gained a prize and a piece of wax paper with a maze drawn in gray lines. Sometimes the path forked into three or four paths. And sometimes the paths led to weird places, like tunnels or caves, and then disappeared and were replaced with a maze.

As we were once again flying, I almost fell out of the sky when I suddenly saw a huge red spot on the ground, with the word 'Checkpoint' written across it in white lettering. "Subtle," I muttered sarcastically, then angled downward and landed in the middle of the spot.

Amu touched down beside me, and her transformation disappeared. "I could use a rest. The charanaris are pretty tiring."

Nagihiko landed swiftly and gracefully, with the movement of an athlete. Stupid fit people.

"Hey guys!" Kukai ran up to us. "You're almost the last ones. We're only missing Yaya and Utau."

"Makes sense, since they started after us." I noted, and then my eyes caught a glimpse of what was in his hand. "Is that a prize?"

"This?" He held up the glittering charm bracelet. "Yeah. You guys got them too, right?"

Nagihiko nodded and shoveled out the stuff in his pockets. The keychain, the sneaker sole, the empty lipstick case, the die, and the crystal apple. "And the mazes, too?"

He nodded. "Yup. Come on, we're all over there."

As we jogged across the red floor to the others, who were waving, the ground vanished. It became dirt, and walls of clay came up around us. Five panels, each framed in a different color, appeared on the wall to our left. I turned back to see that Yaya and Utau had arrived, which is probably why the scene had changed.

We waited for them to catch up, and then made our way to the rest of them. There were two long stone benches. Kairi, Ikuto, Tadase and Nadeshiko were reclining on the one facing the wall with the panels. Speaking of which, Nadeshiko and Tadase were sitting pretty close. Like, _really_ close, if you get what I mean.

"I guess we've made it, huh?" Utau asked. In her hand dangled a saltshaker and something that looked weirdly like a mannequin arm, all black plastic. I guessed that Yaya held the other three prizes.

I glanced at the others and saw that most of them had their prizes in their laps. Nadeshiko had the most, all five cluttered on the bench next to her.

"What's next?" Ikuto asked, sounding almost interested. I wondered what exactly had gone down between him and Tadase.

Nadeshiko shrugged. "It's not like I can tell you. Figure it out."

We all stared her down, but she just yawned and smiled at us. I sighed and took out the papers. "Fuko, table please?" A mahogany desk appeared in front of me, and I laid down the papers in a stack, in the order we collected them.

"Oh, your lines are gray. Ours are green." Kukai noted. He took out his own stack of papers; the maze lines a forest green. He was about to put it down when Kairi stopped him.

"Hold on, Kukai. Let's organize this. Put the papers down in order of how you collected them, and lay them in the order the paths were." He said.

"What do you mean, in the order the paths were?" Amu asked, confused.

"Like from when we first started out. There were five paths, in a row, from left to right. If you were on the very left path, put your stack on the very left." He explained, pushing their green stack more to the right.

Everyone started organizing their papers, and soon enough, a line of different colored papers lay on the table.

I blinked. "I'm going to stack all of them into a big one, okay?" No one disagreed, and I needed to keep my hands busy, so from left to right, I took each stack and put it on top of the next. The papers, when stacked together, because of all the different colored lines, became blurry and almost all brown. When I stacked the last group of papers, I pushed it down and absently looked. What I saw made me gasp.

"Guys, look!" I pointed to the paper. Most of it was brown, but in the middle, white spaces wove together to create a word.

_Clueless_.

"Is that some kind of bad pun?" Utau asked impatiently. "Like, we literally have no clues, since there are no riddles?" Kukai stifled a chuckle at her disgruntled expression.

"No, it's a hint." I realized. "Now we know that by stacking them, we create words." I quickly un-stacked the papers. Then I took one paper from each pile and stacked it all together. Apparently, the color pigmentation for the lines on each paper was different, because when the five sheets came together, the background was purple.

The letters read 'it' in capital letters. Everyone leaned forward, interested. I continued, but this time, ended up with YU on a green background. "What?" Yaya asked, pointing. "Haha, that's Utau-nee's and my initials!"

"Initials!" I said suddenly. "Those don't say 'it', they say I and T. For Ikuto and Tadase. Y and U are for Yaya and Utau." Wanting to see if I was right, I hurriedly made the next pile. N with a light blue background.

"You're right." Ikuto said, picking up the pile with his initial. The next stack said ARN. Red.

"That's us." Nagihiko remarked. Finally, the last group said KK, and it was brown.

"Now what do we do?" Tadase questioned once everyone had their respective piles.

Nadeshiko, who had been silent the whole time, spoke up. (I personally think that it might've been Tadase's worried expression and her, ahem, soft spot for worried expressions (or Tadase) that had caused her to start talking. How cute.) "I'm not supposed to help beyond normal suggestions that any of you could make. Anyone notice the panels?"

I turned around and nodded. "Yeah, they're the only things in the room other than the benches and the table. They have different colors on the frames. Um, red, purple, green, brown, and light blue..."

"Holy shit!" Kukai exclaimed. "They match the papers!"

Utau held up her and Yaya's green initials. "So we're the middle panel. How much do you want to bet that the papers fit in the frames?" She fluidly rose from the couch (see, some people have long legs, mother! It is not the new generation's fault that I'm short, it's _yours_! Wait...ugh. I forgot. She's not my gene-passing mother...) and stuck the stack of papers into the frame.

As soon as she let go, the papers glowed blue and a smashing noise accompanied the lifting of a giant block of clay under the panel. A tunnel, long and with light filtering through it, had appeared under the frame.

"That's our path. Well, off we go!" Yaya waved and she and Utau ducked into the tunnel. As they walked, they vanished even though they had only gone two or three meters. Weird.

But then again, we know Fuko's the one manning the controls, and the girl is pretty clever. And has a dramatic flair. Worst combination ever.

I slapped our stack into the red frame and the same thing happened. Dragging Amu and Nagihiko by the wrists, I made my way into the tunnel. More smashing noises indicated the others were acting as well.

I couldn't hear anything behind us anymore. A few more steps later, we emerged into daylight...and I nearly drowned.

"What the fu-!" I teetered on the edge of the river and then lost my balance, tumbling in. The water was rapid and strong, hurriedly sweeping me away. It didn't help that I didn't get a good breath of air before going under.

I managed to lift my head, sputter out a, "Screw you, Fuko!", and get some air before sinking back down. I didn't call for help, since I already saw two weird hair colors floating in the water, heading my way.

Arms encircled my own and Amu and Nagihiko dragged me upwards. They heaved me on the riverbank and climbed up themselves. We all flopped on the grass for a bit, panting heavily, before Amu dazedly pointed and said, "Scroll."

Nagihiko propped himself up and reached for it, wiping his hands on the grass before snapping it open.

_og ithw het olfw_

"What?" I asked, dumbfounded. Nagihiko ignored me and reached into my pocket- "W-What are you doing, perv!"- and pulled out the pencil. He started writing under the gibberish.

"It's an anagram." He explained. "The letters are in a different order. It says..." He flipped the paper towards us. It read, 'Go with the flow.'

"You don't mean..." Amu's mouth was hanging open. The three of us slowly turned to look at the river. I grinded my teeth.

"You're fucking kidding me!"

* * *

"Fuko, give me a towel, a blow dryer, and a charged heater. I'm freezing." I commanded.

As the items appeared, I started to wring out my hair. Amu laughed. "She's like a genie." I nodded in agreement, grimacing as I toweled off my monstrous load of locks.

Nagihiko had taken his shirt off, and... no, Rima, don't look! No looking! "Kusukusukusu, Riiima, you know you want to!" I slapped a finger across my chara's mouth. "Back in your egg! Time-out!" She giggled and nestled down in half her egg. It was padded with a blanket, all nice and cozy and stuff.

I huddled in the towel, and sat in front of the heater. Nagihiko tapped me on the shoulder. "Rima, can I borrow that?" He asked, pointing at my towel. I willed myself to look away and grunted.

"Get your own. I'm sure Fuko would comply." He laughed awkwardly.

"Uh, I already did. She won't give me one. And as soon as Amu finished with hers, it disappeared." He told me. I glared at the sky.

"Fine." I reluctantly crawled out of my towel and handed it to him. He started drying out his hair and wiping himself down (oh my god, those abs!) and then gave the towel back to me.

"Thanks, Rima." I was about to take it from him, but as soon as my fingertips touched the fabric, it vanished. The heater did, too, as well as the blow dryer. They were replaced with a scroll.

Amu picked it up, sighing. "Here we go again."

* * *

Four scrolls later, we walked along a bridge hanging over a giant chasm. "This thing had better not break." Amu said, gripping the rope rail tightly. We were worn out from all the character changes, and couldn't hold our alternate forms at the moment.

I absently walked, staring off into the distance. This was too easy. All of it was too easy. The riddles weren't really riddles at all, more like questions. Some of them were confusing, but when we exercised our brain cells just a bit, we solved them. We hadn't made a single mistake, or at least I didn't think we had. We had no way of knowing for sure if we had picked the right prize, but most of the times, the answers were obvious.

It made me wonder what the true motive of this trial was. Nagihiko was reading a riddle, but I wasn't listening. Amu answered easily, and he penned it in. The bridge shook as it disappeared, and Amu screamed, but the planks were immediately replaced with a solid stone floor, the chasm gone.

We studied the maze a bit (all of our scrolls after the checkpoint had red lines) and then made our way through.

This time, after the maze disappeared, there were no scene changes. The world was just black. I could see Nagihiko and Amu perfectly, but everything else was only darkness. Even the floor, which felt solid, seemed to swirl around in the monotonous background.

"Guys!" Utau's voice came from the left. We all whirled around to see her waving. She and Yaya were both sitting on the floor, all of their prizes on their laps or next to them. Nadeshiko was standing, leaning against something invisible.

I reached out a bit to my left, blinding groping the air. My hands hit something solid, and as I swept my hands along the pitch black thing, I ascertained that it was probably a wall.

We walked over, and sat down. Nagihiko pulled loads of stuff out of his pockets and set them down. I myself took out a couple of things.

We talked a bit about the whole thing, and Ikuto and Tadase showed up not long after. Following them were Kukai and Kairi. As soon as the last two stepped into this strange sphere of existence (did I mention that when they appeared, they _literally _just appeared out of thin air?), something huge and dark red slammed down about a hundred meters away.

I stood up, feeling jumpy. "What is that?" It looked like a giant red wall, with a dark brown frame.

Kukai shrugged. "I don't know, let's find out!" He started jogging towards it, and the rest of us gathered our things and followed.

As we got closer, the wall didn't seem too intimidating. It was probably a bit taller than Ikuto. "What is it?" I asked blankly.

Tadase pointed at our feet. "Look, some more panels. The colors are different."

"Table!" I shouted, and when nothing happened, I started forward, only to crash into what felt like the corner of a table. I felt around and cursed mentally at Fuko for making an invisible table.

The others cautiously proceeded towards said piece of invisible furniture, sitting down around it. We did the same thing we did in the clay room, only this time we put them in the order of when we left the clay tunnels. Kairi organized it since they left last, and had seen the order we had departed in.

The first stack had created a mint green background with a white square in the middle. I fitted the stack into the panel with the mint frame. It glowed blue, but otherwise, nothing happened.

The others had been stacking them, too, and for the most part simultaneously stuck them in. Everything glowed blue. Finally, Tadase put in the last stack, which also glowed blue.

Seemingly, nothing happened.

And then I realized there was something weird about the velvety, red wall. There were now indentations of different shapes, sunken into the red velvet.

I ran my fingers over one of them, and realized, with a start, that it would perfectly fit the faceted, crystal apple. "Nagi, hand over the apple." Obediently, he gave it to me, and I pressed it into the indentation with ease. It fit perfectly, and glowed blue.

"It's like a trophy wall. Are we done after this?" Amu asked wonderingly. Everyone set to work inputting the prizes, handing Ikuto the ones on top (and me the ones on the bottom. Thanks, guys.)

The last prize happened to be the first one we picked up. A pretty copper keychain, dangling several intricately carved keys. I fitted it in, making sure each key corresponded with the uniquely shaped indentation.

I stepped back as it threw out blue beams of light. The ground started shaking and we all stumbled backwards. Then, a medium sized box rose out of the ground, beautiful brown wood creating a treasure chest. A large keyhole, framed with contrasting turquoise velvet, stood out in the center.

I tried to tug off the keys to try them, but they wouldn't budge. Besides, it was obvious that they were too small.

Suddenly, the scene changed. The trophy wall vanished, and the pure blackness turned to a normal forest. The chest was still there.

It was dark outside, but it was the normal kind of dark. Crickets chirped all around us, and cicadas fluttered their wings in the trees.

We started expressing opinions on what to do ("Maybe we should get a stick from the forest and jab it in the keyhole?" "We're civilized beings, Kukai, and we're not sufficiently desperate enough for that."), when Nagihiko pointed to the left and the right.

"Look, there are scrolls. And there's on one top of the chest, too." Kairi went to pick up the one on the left side, at the entrance to a forest path. Yaya headed over to the chest, and I went over to the cave on the right.

The three of us hurried back with the scrolls. Yay read hers first in a surprisingly serious and mature voice. "Which is more important, which is the one you need?"

We glanced at each other. This was no riddle. This was a choice.

Slowly, Kairi unfurled the scroll he was holding. "Destiny."

That would be pretty hard to top. But as I unrolled my own scroll, I immediately knew that it already had been. "Answers."

Kukai scratched his head. "Well, destiny sounds pretty important."

I shook my head. Unlike him, I could read between the lines. "That's not all. If you really look at it, it's telling us to choose between saving the world, which is our destiny, and finding my parents, which are the answers that I need."

Utau looked thoughtful. "Well, not exactly. It's telling us to choose which one is more important to us, and what _we_ need."

Nadeshiko smiled wryly. "I feel like Maurice." When we all gave her blank stares, she expanded. "You know, Belle's father from Beauty and the Beast. That scene in the forest where he's lost and trying to decide which path to take."

"Well that didn't end too well, now did it?" I muttered sarcastically.

"Ultimately it did, because if he hadn't gone to the Beast's castle, then Belle wouldn't have eventually married the Beast!" Yaya chirped helpfully.

"But they all had to suffer before that." I retorted.

"Focus." Kairi interrupted our extended metaphor. "Which is more important?"

"Answers." I replied, just as Amu said, "Destiny."

She raised an eyebrow. "It's destiny, Rima. While finding your parents may be important, destiny has a higher priority."

I shook my head. "No. It's asking what we need. And I _need_ answers. Screw destiny, I can just wing it."

"Do you hear what you're saying?" Amu asked. "_I_ blahblahblah, and _I_ blahblahblah. It's all about _you_. But this is asking us what we need. All of us."

"Sorry, Amu. I stand by Rima." I glanced up in surprise to find my most unlikely ally in this battle of priorities. He seemed strained.

Amu looked shocked. "I-Ikuto?"

He looked down at me, and then back at Amu. "I know what it's like to lose your parents. The need to find them is always first in your mind. It's consuming. All you ever think about. And if Rima doesn't find her parents and only gets used for her destiny… well, I don't know if I can live with knowing that I had a part in it, even though I fully understand how she feels."

"But… I thought you would understand." Amu's eyebrows furrowed and she looked hurt. "I mean… I thought…"

"Just because he likes you doesn't mean you're always right, Amu." I blurted out, and with a nastier tone than I had intended.

Her mouth opened and tears started to form in her eyes. Most of me felt bad, but there was a tiny, unforgiving voice in the back of my head that whispered, "Crybaby."

I was terrible for thinking things like this about my best friend. I shouldn't have had any thoughts like this, but no matter how much I wanted to deny it, they were there. I opened my mouth to apologize, but Nagihiko beat me to it.

"That was mean, Rima."

And then he _glared_ at me.

And my defensive instincts kicked in. "Well, it's true! And why the hell are you crying"? You already know he likes you! But you keep being weak in these trials. Destiny seems like the easier choice because everything gets done for you! But what we need are ANSWERS. Can't you understand that? Why are you being like this?"

She started crying harder, but she also seemed angry as well as hurt. "Because I'm scared, Rima!"

This somehow surprised me. "What?"

"I'm fucking scared, Rima!" She shouted, glaring. "_You _might be heartless and unfeeling enough to go down that freaky cave and find out if you're right, but I'm sure not!"

"It's about the fucking cave?" I asked, disbelievingly. "We can just ask Fuko for a flashlight!"

"It's not about the stupid cave, Rima! God, you don't understand!" She made a frustrated gesture, raking her hands through her hair. "It's about everything. I mean, maybe you don't care that we conducted a murder investigation, but _you_ weren't the one watching your best friend get choked and feeling so helpless about it!"

"No, I wasn't!" I snapped back. "I was the one _getting_ choked. If you ask me, that's a hell of a lot scarier!"

She took a deep, shaky breath. "Whatever, Rima. You're too stubborn to see it my way, but I'm telling you, this time, you're wrong."

There was a pause. No one else dared interfere with this feud between best friends.

"You think I'm heartless and unfeeling?" I asked in a low voice. "You think that I don't care?" My voice was rising in intensity, and now I was furious. "Well, _congratulations _Amu, you're right! Totally and completely, because you know, you ALWAYS ARE."

"Maybe I always am!" She shouted back. "Because I don't make stupid decisions and rush into things!"

"Do you hear yourself right now?" I mocked. "Seriously, Amu, you have NO IDEA what it's like to be me. Seeing as you're my supposed 'best friend', shouldn't you maybe understand something about me? Shouldn't you NOT think that I'm heartless and unfeeling and that I care about nothing?"

"Because I do! I fucking do! If I didn't, why would I be standing here, desperately trying to find answers about me? About my parents? If I didn't give two shits about anything, why are you still alive? Because in our first battle, I could've killed you if I didn't care. Fuko_ wanted_ us to hurt each other, and I didn't because I _cared._"

She was shaking. Nagihiko glared again, and gathered Amu in his arms. "That's enough, Rima."

"Okay, Mr. Perfect. That's enough." I smiled sweetly, and although I pretended that it didn't hurt me to see him holding Amu that way, and that I felt completely and utterly like an asshole for saying all those things to Amu, I realized that tears were streaming down my own face.

Suddenly, Amu fell to the ground, writhing in pain.

"The Influence." Kukai realized.

We all watched in silence. Then, after it was over, she looked up at me and said something that sent me running.

"_Supposed_ best friend? Thanks for nothing, Rima."

And furious and hurt and rejected and dead wrong, I ran into the cave.

* * *

It was already dark. I sat under a tree, twirling a small, purple flower in my hand and sniffling. Every once in a while, I would painstakingly relive the past hour, and cry harder.

She had been right. There was nothing at the end of the cave. Deep down, I had always known it, but my desire for knowledge about my past had clouded my thinking. And then I had said all those _awful_ things…

"It's okay, Rima." Kusukusu whispered, patting my head. "We all make mistakes. She'll forgive you, eventually."

That only made me cry harder. I stroked her with a finger to let her know that I was grateful that she tried. Suddenly, I felt someone snatch the flower from my fingers and I looked up, purple dancing across my blurry, tear-streaked vision.

_Nagihiko._

He sat down next to me and neither of us said anything for a while. Then, he spoke. "Rima, what do you think the definition of courage is?"

I sniffed. "Well, I wouldn't know. I'm always wrong, anyways." The last part didn't sound as bitter as I wanted it to. More like a confession.

He sighed. "I'm asking what you _think._"

I hunkered down. "I don't know. Being able to do something scary?"

"So do you feel brave for going down that dark cave alone?" He asked softly.

I didn't. "No."

He leaned against the tree and looked up at the night sky. "I think courage is being able to take on something hard. Know that you might not make it through, but to try anyways."

He looked sideways at me. "Amu is brave, Rima. It might not seem like it sometimes, but honestly, this should be more than she can handle. But she's dealing with it. For you."

"I really don't need a guilt trip right now, Nagihiko." I said tiredly.

He smiled. "I'm not done yet. You're brave, too. Rima, you've gone through a lot and surely there's more to come. But you went through it. But you need to let us help you. You're not alone."

"Well, I should be." I said in a small, slightly bitter voice. "I'm stubborn. I'm mean. I'm cold and heartless. I'm insensitive. I'm short. I can't run a mile in under ten minutes and my hair takes for-fucking-ever to dry and I'm clumsy and I'm nearsighted but I don't want to wear my glasses…" I started rambling on and on about everything that was wrong with me, but Nagihiko put a finger to my lips.

"Maybe, Rima. But there's more than that. You're also sarcastic in a good way and funny and your smile could light up the world. You can always make people feel happier and you're smart. You're brave and persistent and you can always get what you want. You're clever and pretty and personally, I think you'd look just as beautiful with glasses."

I sniffed. "Stop trying to make me feel better, dammit. It's working."

He smiled. "It's true you have a lot of flaws. But nobody's perfect, not even me." When I gave him a skeptical look, he shrugged. "After all, I did once wear a skirt."

"Yeah, and I bet you managed to look pretty good in it, too." I muttered. He laughed.

"But my point is, Rima, even if you have all these imperfections, I- someone's going to be willing to love you. Really."

I looked up at him. He was smiling softly at me. "Promise?"

"Yeah."

I stood up. "Okay. Let's go back to the others."

He nodded and stood up, offering me his hand. I latched on to it, and we walked for a couple of minutes before entering the clearing with the treasure chest. "Is Amu mad?" I whispered.

"I'm sure she wouldn't be if you apologized." He mumbled back out of the corner of his mouth.

"Amu?" I called. She turned to me. In her hand dangled a large brass key. "I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said all of those things. It was really mean and I… I don't know. I was just mad. You _are_ my best friend and I really do care about you, so…"

She remained expressionless for a moment. And then she smiled. "It's okay, Rima. I'm sorry, too. You're not heartless or cold anymore. Actually, you never really were. We all know that."

I let go of Nagihiko's hand and ran to her, burying myself in her chest and crying. She hugged me back, and I thought I felt a tear drip on my shoulder. "It's all good, Rima. After all, we're best friends, right?"

I laughed a little. "Yeah."

We drew apart and she handed me the key. "Here. I know that destiny is important, but so are your parents. I shouldn't pretend to know about it or how it feels like. Just know that we all support you."

I nodded my thanks and took the key. Everyone watched in anticipation as I bent down and inserted it, twisting it in the keyhole. I slowly opened the box and peered inside, and then quickly jerked back as something rose out of it.

It was a medium sized ball plastered with colorful slips of paper, like the ones you see at the festival. The ones that would-

BANG!

As it hung above us, it cracked open and a flurry of confetti burst out and fluttered downwards. It coated our hair and shoulders in glitter, and a roll of paper unfurled, swinging slightly before settling.

We all read it, and started smiling. "Whoo!" Kukai cheered, pumping the air with his fist. There were hugs all around.

It read, "Pass".

We almost didn't notice the scene disappearing, and us going back to the room. Fuko ran out of a wall (well, out of a door in the wall) and bounced over to us. "Congratulations! It got a little testy there, but you all pulled through!"

I nodded. "Yeah, I guess so."

She gave a little laugh. The genuine kind, not the cackle-y kind. "Well, I will say that it was pretty funny watching you guys on the disillusioned screen. The room is big, but all of you were really just going around in circles in the illusion. It was funny to watch you guys chase each other around and not even realize it."

We all smiled wryly. I wondered if Fuko's job was fun to her. It _did_ seem kind of cool to sit in a room and look at a bajillion screens and use spy talk or something, like, "Group 1 has gone down the first path. Group 4 is now on their fourth riddle. All subjects are proceeding accordingly."

Never mind. I couldn't see Fuko talking like that. She'd be more, "So Rima-chan and Amu-chan and Nagi-chan went down the right path. Good for them! And then Kukai-kun and Kairi are already on their fourth riddle! Heh, they're all smarter than I thought!"

She was talking again, interrupting my weird vision. "So, I'm going to tell you about the next trial, which starts immediately. Everybody, come with me."

We all started following her, exasperated that we didn't even get a break, but she abruptly stopped walking. Utau, who had been right behind her, almost crashed into her. She glared.

Fuko turned around. "I almost forgot. You two-" she eyed Tadase and Nadeshiko with a hateful expression, confusing all of us. "-are not invited."

* * *

**20 pages and 6,849 words, everyone. Not including this A/N. I hope this long chapter will make you forgive my really slow updating? And of course, the Rimahiko :)**

**Also, I'd like to ask a favor of you guys. If you have ever read or watched Katekyo Hitman Reborn!, then would you pretty please go read ****_Wicked Game_**** by LinChungIsHot? It's really a beautiful story and I don't think it got nearly as many reviews as it deserved. But be warned, it's rated M for... uh... you know. Just skip the chapters that you're uncomfortable with. (That's what I did, anyways. But if you're mature enough to read them/ you don't mind, then go ahead.) It's really good, I promise!**

**Btw, just three more reviews until I choose the contest winner and start writing the fic about how to write a SC fic. Even though I have nearly 60 followers and nearing 10,000 hits, most of the time I only get, at most, nine reviews per chapter. However, last chapter, I got a whopping 21 reviews! Really, I love you guys so much and keep it coming!**

**Question: What's your favorite type of candy? Yaya told me to ask :) I actually didn't intend for the Beauty and the Beast thing (which, obviously, I don't own) to turn into a metaphor, but Yaya, the little dear, just ****_had_**** to chime in.**

**Oh, and PS, Rima still doesn't know about Nagi's feelings, because he turned the 'I' into 'someone' and she didn't actually notice.**

**~Sea**


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